All the remaining 28 matches of the I-League, including Sunday’s marquee Kolkata derby between champions Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, will be played in empty stadiums, the All India Football Federation said on Friday.
The decision was taken after the AIFF and I-League officials had a Skype meeting with club representatives.
“Adhering to the advisories issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, AIFF has decided to complete the remaining matches of the 2019-20 edition of the Hero I-League behind closed doors,” the AIFF said in a statement.
“Besides team officials and players; match officials (referees), medical staff, TV Crew, accredited media, and required security staff — none would be allowed to be in the premises of the stadium on match day, and during official practice the preceding day,” it said.
This will be the first time in the country that so many competitive football matches under the aegis of the AIFF will be played closed doors.
The first match to be played behind closed doors will be the one between Real Kashmir FC and TRAU FC at TRC ground in Srinagar today. The enthusiastic Real Kashmir supporters who have been turning out to pack the venue most of the time will be robbed of the opportunity to cheer their team.
But the match which will be hit the most as far as football-mad spectators are concerned is Sunday’s Kolkata derby between champions Mohun Bagan and East Bengal at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata.
This will be the last Kolkata derby of the I-League era as a merged side of Mohun Bagan and ATK will play in the ISL from next season.