Tug of war over EMS Corporation Stadium

KOZHIKODE: After the tussle for the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Kochi, cricket and football associations are at loggerheads over the EMS Corporation Stadium here.

The Kerala Cricket Association has requested the corporation to hand over the stadium, which is maintained by the district football association, while the football association is fiercely opposing the move by KCA.  

“We have submitted a request to the Corporation three weeks ago. We want to lay out three cricket pitches. If everything is ready, KCA has promised to bring Cooch Behar under-19 trophy and Syed Mushtaq  Ali T20 matches here. This district is the only one which lacks a proper cricket stadium in the state,” says Sanil Chandran KV, the secretary of the district cricket association.

“To lay out the pitches, we need to be the custodian of the stadium. I have understood that the district football association has strong reservations against handing over the stadium to us. But under them the stadium has been maintained poorly and is in an unplayable condition. We can offer good facilities and are willing to invest a large amount of money to improve the turf. Also, we have no problem in allowing international football matches to be held at the stadium whenever they need it. Moreover, the football association is not conducting any tournaments there. We are expecting the Corporation to discuss the issue in the next council meeting,” he said.

However, district football association secretary P. Haridas said that it was impossible for the association to hand over the stadium until January. “We are in last minute talks with sponsors to conduct the Sait Nagjee football tournament and the tournament will be held for sure this season. If the Corporation hands over the stadium to KCA then we will vehemently oppose the decision. In addition, if the cricket pitch is laid, the turf quality will be too low to conduct any national and international matches in future. We have also submitted a proposal to the Corporation to extend our supervision of the stadium. Apart from the Sait Nagjee tournament, the Kerala Football Association is also in talks to conduct the Kerala Super League here,” he explained.

Haridas rubbished the allegation that the stadium was maintained poorly. “Anyone can visit the stadium and inspect the ground conditions,” he added.