Forge FC To Face Municipal Limeno Behind Closed Doors

As expected, Forge FC’s upcoming Concacaf League match against El Salvadoran side Municipal Limeno will take place behind closed doors.

The 2020 Concacaf League is set to kick off this week following a significant delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Forge FC has been the only Canadian team to feature in the competition after having reached the Round of 16 last year following an interim qualification process, with the side qualifying for this year’s competition by winning the inaugural Canadian Premier League season.

The club drew first-time Concacaf League competitors Municipal Limeno (El Salvador) back in September. Due to the pandemic, the traditional home-and-away format for the competition’s opening two rounds has been nullified, so lower-seeded Forge FC finds itself travelling for the campaign’s opening match (and the next one, should they win this week) before any potential home match.

While the time and location of the preliminary round fixture had already been revealed, last night Municipal Limeno confirmed that the match would be played behind closed doors. This isn’t the first time Forge FC has experienced this in Concacaf League action, albeit the circumstances are very different this year:

In accordance with the provisions issued by CONCACAF, the match on Thursday 22 October against Forge FC corresponding to the CONCACAF League will be held behind closed doors, due to the current health conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. We invite all fans to be aware of the incidents of our debut in such a distinguished competition through the international television channel ESPN.

Municipal Limeno

El Salvadoran side Municipal Limeno started its domestic campaign just ten days ago, falling to a 2-1 loss against CD Aguila before completing a goalless draw against LA Firpo on October 17. The club finished third in the 2019 Apertura before a blowout loss to Santa Tecla in the quarter-finals, and missed the playoffs by one spot in the Clausura.

The match is set to take place in the home ground of the El Salvador national team, Estadio Cuscatlan. The stadium resides in the nation’s capital and can fit some 53,400 fans, though obviously that’s a non-issue for the closed door match this week.

Forge FC has already qualified for the 2021 Concacaf League by retaining its league title at The Island Games this year. Should Forge FC exceed expectations and finish as a top six team in the 2020 Concacaf League, they would qualify for the 2021 Concacaf Champions League instead.

The club completed its final training session at Tim Hortons Field this Monday, with the side now due to travel to El Salvador ahead of its opening 2020 Concacaf League match.

Canadian viewers can tune into the game on TSN3 at 8:00PM this Thursday.

Source: Municipal Limeno (via Twitter)