ATK Mohun Bagan's AFC Cup group fixtures set for yet another postponement?

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Bangladesh's Basundhara Kings likely to appeal for rescheduling...

Bangladesh Premier League champions Basundhara Kings have submitted a request to the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) to initiate talks with AFC (Asian Football Confederation) to further postpone the group stage fixtures of Group D which are scheduled to start from June 30, as the new dates clash with their domestic commitments.

They want the matches to be held after completion of the domestic league on August 2.

"Bashundhara Kings want to respect [the Bangladesh Premier League's] fixtures published by Bangladesh Football Federation as it was published way ahead of new dates given by AFC, which has also changed their original official calendar," a Bashundhara Kings statement read.

"We request BFF to inform AFC to reschedule the group stage fixtures after 2 August, 2021 when Bangladesh Premier League will be fully completed. This will help BFF to complete their predetermined league schedule in time to help all clubs of Bangladesh football."

At the same time, it believed that BFF is preparing a bid to host the South Asian Zone games sticking to the new schedule provided by AFC. Previously, they had submitted the same bid but Maldives won the hosting rights.

However, AFC was forced to reschedule the dates given the breach of Covid-19 protocols by Indian club Bengaluru FC who were set to play the play-off game against Eagles FC for the last remaining spot in the group.

With the incident angering the Maldives government, AFC had to postpone the matches.

It was a blessing for ATK Mohun Bagan as if the matches were held in May, they would have missed the services of several key foreign players including talisman Roy Krishna and his partner-in-crime David Williams. Moreover, after a few Bengaluru FC personnel breached the Covid-19 protocol in Maldives, sports minister Ahmed Mahloof requested the club to leave the country leaving AFC with no option but to postpone the games.

According to the new dates, Bengaluru will play their playoff match on May 27 and the group stage fixtures will be held on June 30, July 2, and July 6.

2021-05-21 10:00:06

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