March 31, 2004 15:16 IST
East Bengal's AFC Cup home tie against Geylang United of Malaysia on May 5 is now in doubt.
The city police are refusing to provide security for the match on the plea that they will have to begin deputing personnel on election duty from that day.
Asian Football Confederation rules do not provide for rescheduling of matches, and East Bengal will have to pay a hefty fine (as much as US $20,000) if it fails to host the match on May 5.
West Bengal goes to the polls on May 10.
"We have a problem, but let's see what happens," East Bengal secretary Kalyan Majumder said. "We are trying to convince the authorities."
The Indian Football Association on behalf of the East Bengal Football Club is hosting the match.
When the IFA wrote to the city police commissionerate seeking permission to hold the match at the Salt Lake Stadium, the latter turned down the request and suggested that the match be rescheduled.
"They [the police] want the match to be played by May 1, but that is not possible," IFA secretary Subrata Dutta said.
East Bengal and the IFA have now approached state Sports Minister Subash Chakraborty for help. The government has made exceptions in the past to host matches in the 110,000 capacity stadium, and that is East Bengal's only hope.
