India-Panama friendly in Bengaluru preponed by one day due to marathon

CHENNAI: India's friendly match against Panama at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru afterwards this month is preponed by a day due to the Bengaluru Marathon scheduled a day after the match, the Karnataka State Football Association confirmed on Friday.

Key points

• As per earlier schedule, Panama's visit to Bengaluru was scheduled on September 26.
• The match against Panama will be first of three international friendlies India will play in September-October.
• As preparations for the marathon begins in the night before, we cannot afford any kind of intervention when the match goes on in the stadium.

What happened

As per earlier schedule, Panama's visit to Bengaluru was scheduled on September 26. Nevertheless, citing logistical matters and the time gap to prepare for the marathon event scheduled to commence on September 27, the match has been advanced by a day. The stadium is the event's start and finish point.

"The Panama team had agreed to the preponement. As preparations for the marathon begins in the night before, we cannot afford any kind of intervention when the match goes on in the stadium. Therefore, we met with the organisers of the marathon and the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) (who manage the venue) and decided to prepone the match, " M Kumar, General Secretary of KSFA, informed this daily on Friday.

For context, the match against Panama will be first of three international friendlies India will play in September-October. This tie will be the precursor to the historic friendly between India and Brazil on October 3 at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. Then, the Blue Tigers will play four-time world champions Uruguay on October 6 at the same venue.

The bottom line

Taken together, the developments around india-Panama friendly in Bengaluru preponed by one day due to marathon point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.