ISL leaders Bengaluru FC reached Male City on Sunday to play their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup match against TC Sports Club on February 13. (AP Photo)
Fearing sanctions and a premature exit from the tournament, and banking on assurances provided by the Maldives National Defence Force, Bengaluru FC reached Male City on Sunday to play their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup match against TC Sports Club on February 13. Bengaluru made the journey despite the Ministry of External Affairs’ travel advisory, which directed Indian citizens to defer their travel to the island nation.
However, a Bengaluru FC official said they went ahead with the trip only after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) received a go-ahead from the MEA on Sunday morning. The government, on Saturday, had warned the Indian club to avoid travelling to Maldives, which has been in the state of emergency since February 5.
Subsequently, the AIFF and Bengaluru FC requested the AFC to postpone the match. However, the continental body refused to reschedule the match, citing that the host club had given all the necessary assurances. According to sources, the AFC also pointed out that the Indian government had merely issued an advisory and that there was no travel ban imposed. “So they conveyed to us on Sunday morning that the match would be played on Tuesday, as scheduled,” an AIFF official said.
Earlier, in a letter to Srinivas Murthy, Head of Operations, Bengaluru FC, MEA under-secretary (Maldives, Indian Ocean Region) Sushil Prasad wrote: “This is in reference to the newspaper article… in The Indian Express Delhi edition of today about the visit of Bengaluru FC to Male to play a match of Asian Football Confederation Cup against TC Sports Club of Male at National Stadium in Male on February 13, 2018… Since state of emergency imposed in Republic of Maldives since February 5, 2018, India has issued a travel advisory… advising Indian nationals to defer their trip to Maldives until further notice. Bengaluru FC is advised to adhere to it strictly and defer their proposed visit to Maldives.”
If Bengaluru would have refused to travel, the issue would first have been presented to AFC’s relevant committees to decide whether to play the match at a later date or hand TC Sports Club a 3-0 win apart from sanctions, if any. There was also a possibility of the Maldivian club claiming compensatory damages.
“We wanted to avoid all the complications. But at the same time, the AFC and TC Sports Club had promised all support so the AIFF explained this to the MEA and got the necessary permissions,” a Bengaluru FC official said.
The team reached Male City on Sunday evening and was scheduled to have their official training session on Monday. The return leg of the tie will be played in Bengaluru on February 20, with the winner progressing to the AFC Cup group stage.