Kolkata : East Bengal were dealt a severe blow as midfielder Sehnaj Singh is very likely to miss the derby on January 23 . Sehnaj , who injured his quadricep muscles during the match against Sporting Clube de Goa , has been adviced to take a minimum 7 days rest . According to Alvito d’Counha “ Sehnaj looks doubtful for the derby as he has been advised by the doctors to take rest .”
The club officials are putting in their best efforts to present Bernard Mendy in the forthcoming I League derby at the Salt Lake Stadium . The French International was officially confirmed by the club yesterday to play for them . The Chennaiyin FC star will be submitting his visa papers on Monday and is expected to come to India by the end of next week .
Meanwhile the Red & Gold footballers reached Mumbai amidst utter mismanagement . The players had to wait for their dinner for a long time after they reached their hotel .
The tickets for the I League derby will go for sale from Tuesday . Mohun Bagan finance secretary Debasis Dutta after discussion with Debabrata Sarkar at the East Bengal tent agreed to put 63000 tickets on sale . It was also agreed that whatever the gate sales are will be distributed equally between the two clubs . The tickets will be priced Rs 100 while VIP left and right tickets will be priced Rs 150 . The priced tickets for dignitaries will be Rs 300 . Although Mohun Bagan were the hosts , it was decided after a meeting with the sports minister Arup Biswas that the match will be hosted jointly .
The much awaited residential academy of East Bengal club will be inaugurated tomorrow . There will be small ritual that will take place at the BA-CA ground . Ex-footballers Bhaskar Ganguly and Manoranjan Bhattacharya will perform a yajna . Another former footballer Arun Ghosh will light the lamp . Bhaichung Bhutia , Kuljit Singh and I M Vijayan are also supposed to be present for the programme .Initially the academy will have 11 boys to start with under the coaching of Ranjan Chowdhury . In the evening there will a function at the club tent where the founder members will be felicitated . The groundsmen will be given blankets .
Meanwhile the club is believed to be in talks with Real Madrid Academy in order to heighten the state of grassroots football in India. East Bengal officials have recently met with Real Madrid Asia-Pacific CEO Luis Fernandes, and agreed upon a technical deal. The details are yet to be disclosed. After two weeks of back and forth, Madrid agreed on specific terms within the association.
Members of the Real Madrid technical team will come to Kolkata to coach trainees in the academy. East Bengal junior team members will also play matches at their Academy, the ‘La Fabrica’. Special training programmes will be set up for the travelling contingent.