Politics and environmentalists throw football fans out: Mohun Bagan told to play in empty stadium on Friday

COMPLICATIONS REGARDING Mohun Bagan's home matches continue as the West Bengal Police ordered them to play Friday's match against Shillong Lajong behind closed doors if the game happens at Barasat.

Mohun Bagan originally wanted to play their home matches at Rabindra Bharati Stadium but due to the Green Tribunal making objections due to the club not obtaining required permissions from them, they had to use Barasat instead. But on Friday, the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee will visit Barasat for a 'Jatra Utsav' and that is set to drain the resources of their police department. So citing their inability to provide adequate security, the police told the Mariners to play the game in an empty stadium.

Bagan are trying a last ditch attempt to get out of this mess. They have appealed to the court's division bench to hear their plea, and the hearing has been set on 12th January. But the chances of them actually getting permission to host Friday's game at Rabindra Sarobar are dim.

Interestingly, while the Green Tribunal seems hell bent on denying Mohun Bagan a chance to play at Rabindra Sarobar due to concerns that lights and heavy noise in the evening would scare away the migratory birds, they had no objection to a concert being held there on Sunday with lights and loud music continuing till late night. The concert attendees left the whole place littered with trash and empty bottles of alcohol.

Mohun Bagan's campaign opener against Aizawl FC drew more than 10,000 people to Barasat; and the number was low because they printed less tickets, having originally planned to play the match at Rabindra Sarobar. Being one of the most popular clubs in the country, being forced to play in front of empty stands represents a major monetary loss for them, not to mention a disadvantage of not having their fans present at a home game.