E Bengal to play 3 home matches in empty stadium

Local football giants East Bengal on Monday decided to play two of their I-League home matches and an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup encounter without the support of fans inside the Salt Lake stadium due to the unavailability of required police personnel. In an administrative meeting here, the club decided to stage the matches in an empty stadium without their vociferous supporters after Bidhannagar city police, under whose jurisdiction the venue comes, said they cannot deploy the required number of police personnel for crowd control, as they would be on municipal election duty. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) polls are slated for April 18, and elections to 92 municipalities across the state on April 25. East Bengal will host Mumbai FC on the 18th and Goan club Dempo on the 25th in important I-League encounters.