Communication error leads to Bengaluru FC missing the press conference ahead of Mumbai FC clash

A MAJOR COMMUNICATION BLUNDER from the organizers of the Mumbai FC vs Bengaluru FC match led to the head coach of the visiting team not being able to attend the pre-match press conference scheduled at the Cooperage Stadium earlier today.

At the root of the problem lies an error in an email sent to the Bengaluru FC staff. Yesterday, the defending champions received this email informing them that the pre-match press conference was to be held at 4:00 pm.

But the media and the home team knew the time of the presser to be 4:30 pm, as specified by the email that was circulated to them.

But Bengaluru FC officials were taken aback when they received a call at 3:15 pm telling them the information they had received earlier was wrong, and the presser was to take place at 4:30 pm indeed. 

This landed the visitors - who had head coach Albert Roca and winger Udanta Singh ready to depart for the media event - in a conundrum as changing the time of the press conference meant a major disruption to their tight pre-matchday schedule which included team meetings and strategy sessions. So they decided not to send their representatives to the press conference at all.

But as time wore on the assembled members of the press were left clueless as to what was going on as none of the Mumbai FC staff at the venue seemed to be aware of the reason why the Bengaluru FC player & coach were absent from the presser.

To add to the confusion, Mumbai FC head coach Santosh Kashyap's car broke down on the way to the press conference and that led to him being late by more than half an hour. The press interaction finally started at 5:15 pm, with Kashyap along with Farukh Choudhury speaking with the media.