Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters, the 2 groups within the centre of a storm after the Kochi facet walked out halfway by means of their Indian Super League playoff match lately, discover themselves in the identical group within the Hero Super Cup which shall be held in Kozhikode and Malappuram from April 8 to 25.
The draw of heaps for the Super Cup, which can see ISL and I-League golf equipment battle one another, was held on Tuesday and Bengaluru, the Blasters, Roundglass Punjab FC together with the winner of qualifier-1 discover themselves in Group ‘A’, one of many 4 teams within the occasion.
“Unfortunately, that happened. And it (the draw of lots) was live and since it is a qualifying round for the AFC Cup, transparency had to be there,” P. Anilkumar, the secretary of the Kerala Football Association, informed The Hindu on Tuesday. “We have nothing more to say.”
But the Blasters’ presence within the Super Cup itself is doubtful at this stage for the reason that AIFF is but to provide its verdict on the group’s walkout.
“That is pending …at the moment, they are not suspended and that is why they have been included in the list. They will decide in a day or two and in case there is any disciplinary action, they will change the fixtures accordingly,” mentioned Anilkumar.
The AIFF disciplinary committee, which met on Monday, had rejected the protest lodged by Blasters after their walkout in Bengaluru on March 3.
In its protest, the Blasters had disputed a aim scored off a freekick by Bengaluru’s Sunil Chhetri and had sought reliefs on two counts, saying the match needs to be replayed and strict motion needs to be taken towards the mentioned referee.
After going by means of the legal guidelines of the sport in addition to the stories by the officers, the committee mentioned, “the protest is not maintainable in law, as the conjoint comprehensive and holistic reading of the league rules and the code clearly provides that no protest can be entertained against a referee’s decisions, since the said decisions are final and binding.”
No matches in Kochi
Coming again to the Super Cup, Kochi’s Nehru Stadium was additionally within the plans to host the occasion however has now been dropped.
“In Kochi, there is difficulty in getting spectators to fill up the stadium (Nehru Stadium capacity around 60,000) especially when the home team is not playing. The ISL had a good crowd since the Blasters were playing,” mentioned the KFA secretary.
But on the Payyanad Stdium in Manjeri (Malappuram), which can host the Super Cup together with Kozhikode’s EMS Corporation Stadium, the massive crowd could possibly be a fear.
“In Manjeri, this will be the first football event of this kind happening. That is why were are anticipating a big crowd and some difficulty to manage when you compare with the Kochi stadium. The crowd capacity (in the Manjeri ground) is 20,000…Kochi can hold something like 60,000,” mentioned Anilkumar.
The groupings (league matches, April 8-19): Group A ( Kozhikode): Bengaluru FC, Kerala Blasters, Roundglass Punjab, Winner Qualifier-1.
Group B (Manjeri): Hyderabad FC, Odisha FC, East Bengal FC, Winner Qualifier-3.
Group C (Kozhikode): ATK Mohun Bagan, FC Goa, Jamshedpur FC, Winner Qualifier-2.
Group D (Manjeri): Mumbai City FC, Chennaiyin FC, NorthEast United FC, Winner Qualifier-4.
Semifinal 1 (Kozhikode, April 21), Semifinal 2 (Manjeri, April 22).
Final: Kozhikode (April 25).
Qualifying playoff matches (April 3-6 at Kozhikode).
Source web site: www.thehindu.com
