AFC Cup fixture of Bengaluru FC will take place this month, which has been rescheduled for May 11, earlier it was to be played on April 28. The play-off match was earlier postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will finally take place back again.
BFC will now make a visit to the Maldives to take on hosts Club Eagles next month for the group D fixture. BFC was earlier drawn to play six-time Bangladesh Premier League champion Abahani and Maldives’ Eagles. Although, a countrywide lockdown and travel restrictions in Bangladesh forced Abahani to withdraw from the competition.
“The sub-committee also agreed to award the Playoff Stage slot to Club Eagles, who will now face India’s Bengaluru FC for a place in the AFC Cup Group D on May 11, 2021, in the Maldives,” Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said in a press release on Friday 30 April 2021.
“Taking into careful consideration the exceptional circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular the lockdown and travel restrictions in Bangladesh, the Sub-Committee decided that Abahani Limited Dhaka are considered to have withdrawn from the AFC Cup 2021 and that the situation constituted an event of force majeure. The AFC also announced that Myanmar clubs Hantharwady United FC and Shan United FC have withdrawn from the AFC Cup and AFC Champions League, respectively.
“The AFC Competitions Committee noted and acknowledged the challenges as well as the present complexities caused by the state of emergency in Myanmar and decided that the situation constituted an event of force majeure. In light of the development, the AFC Competitions Committee has canceled the Champions League preliminary stage match between Shan United FC and Melbourne City FC. To determine the remaining slots for the 2021 AFC Club Competitions, the AFC Competitions Committee has decided to cancel the AFC Champions League Preliminary Stage match between Shan United FC and Australia’s Melbourne City FC, who will now advance to the playoff stage where they will face Cerezo Osaka from Japan.” The committee also canceled the AFC Cup playoff stage match between Hantharwady United FC, who were originally scheduled to face the winner of the preliminary stage match between FC Chanthabouly from Laos and Brunei Darussalam’s Kasuka FC”.
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“FC Chanthabouly and Kasuka FC will instead compete for a direct slot in Group G occupying position G4, alongside Hanoi FC from Vietnam, Bali United FC from Indonesia, and Cambodia’s Boeung Ket”.
BFC’s new coach Marco Pezzaiuoli’s first competitive game, where his side thrashed Nepal’s Tribhuvan Army FC 5-0 in Bambolim, Goa. BFC would be aspiring for a more satisfying prospect with the new Head Coach.
