High drama: Goa reach late, ISL tie vs ATK goes past midnight
KOLKATA: For the first time a football match in India didn’t end on the day it began. That happened because Wednesday’s match between ATK and Goa in ISL4 started at 10:45pm, two hours and 45 minutes behind schedule.
The delay happened because Goa reached Kolkata at 8:58pm and the stadium at 9:42pm. But their kits hadn’t arrived so in jumpers, shorts and jogging shoes they warmed up till 10:20pm. The outfield players got the feel of a football minutes before kick-off.
The kick-off time was deferred four times. A media release from the league at 5:02pm said the start would be delayed by an hour. The public address system at the stadium then said it would be 9:30pm, changed it to 9:45 and 10:15 before going silent.
Goa’s arrival was scheduled for Tuesday evening but the private aircraft they were using developed a snag and the team had to return to base. They could not take off till match day primarily because the airport in Goa was shut down following an Indian Air Force plane catching fire.
According to competition rules, a match can start a maximum of two hours after scheduled kick-off. However, there is also a provision to extend that if the home team agrees and here ATK did.
The match was originally scheduled for December 31 but with the city police denying per- mission to hold it on that day because of New Year’s Eve celebrations, it was changed to January 3.
Goa are scheduled to play Northeast United away on Saturday and ATK travel to Bengaluru on Sunday. Goa also play Jamshedpur at home on January 11 and their president Akshay Tandon had said they are unhappy at the fixture congestion. Coach Sergio Lobera too had criticised this, saying such changes could affect the standings.