New Delhi: With Guwahati placed under indefinite curfew on Wednesday following massive protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), the Indian Super League 2019-20 match between NorthEast United FC and Chennaiyin FC, slated for Thursday (December 12), has been postponed until further notice.
Our sources had in Guwahati had told us in the morning that the ISL 2019-20 match NorthEast United FC vs Chennaiyin FC will not be taking place and the confirmation from the ISL official has arrived.
The match was slated to take place at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati but with the Army deployed in the city due to the chaos over the hugely emotive legislation, the match is not taking place.
"Due to the ongoing unrest in Guwahati; match 37 between NorthEast United FC and Chennaiyin FC has been postponed until further notice.
"The League has been in consultation with the concerned authorities over th epast 48 hours to determine the best course of action. The safety of fans, players and League staff is of paramount importance, which has led to this decision.
"Further information regarding the match will be conveyed in due course," Football Sports Development Limited, ISL organisers, said in a statement.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT#HeroISL #LetsFootball pic.twitter.com/vTUoxxwQxf — Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) December 12, 2019
Chennaiyin FC had told News18.com that they were waiting for confirmation from the ISL officials but had already felt that it was unlikely that the match will happen.
"We are waiting for an official word from the league officials. It is unlikely that the match will happen given the situation here but we can't say anything till we have a confirmation.
"We should be hearing from the ISL officials in a couple of hours," Chennaiyin FC official had told News18.com.
Both NorthEast United FC and Chennaiyin FC teams are residing in Radisson Blu in Gotanagar area of Guwahati.
Due to the protests, several districts of Assam were put under internet blackout, including Kamrup, which is 28.6km away from Gotanagar, and Lakhimpur, which is a minimum of 68.3km away from the area where the teams are staying.
On Wednesday, the pre-match press conference of NorthEast United FC vs Chennaiyin FC was cancelled due to the situation in the city, which makes it even more likely that the match will take place with the situation only worsening since yesterday.
(With inputs from Karishma Hasnat)
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