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 later 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.

As per earlier schedule, Panama's visit to Bengaluru was scheduled on September 26. However, citing logistical issues and the time gap to prepare for the marathon event scheduled to begin 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, told this daily on Friday.

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.