The Indian football team, who was supposed to play three international friendlies against Pakistan and Bangladesh in England, has been cancelled.
The Craven Cottage ground of English Premier League club Fulham FC was hired to organize the matches. They issued a statement informing about the cancellation of the matches. The club informed the supporters in a statement that the international friendly matches scheduled to be played at Craven Cottage in June between India, Bangladesh and Pakistan have been cancelled. They added that complete refunds for tickets already purchased will be given.
It is well known that Fulham has a lot of Asian population. According to the original schedule, India was supposed to play against Bangladesh on 1st June, followed by a match against Pakistan on 4th June. Pakistan was scheduled to play against Bangladesh on 8th June.
Kolkata-based Celebrity Management Group (CMG)-promoters of the England tour, claimed that the matches have been only postponed due to reasons beyond their control. CMG executive director Bhaswar Goswami revealed that the tour has only been postponed due to reasons beyond their control. However he could not explain the reasons right now. He also denied reports that the tour was canceled due to the chit-fund scam indicating it as completely baseless. He questioned that at this stage, why should they associate with such companies which are involved in the chit-fund scam. He added that they are discussing with the three teams – India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and hopefully will be able to organize the matches before the commencement of EPL on 17th August. He assured that they will proclaim the new dates shortly.
It may be recollected that a similar friendly match in United Kingdom were planned in 2011. However the match was called off after both India and Pakistan quitted at the last moment.
