Although Kochi has got chosen by the Little Master Sachin Tendulkar amid all the other teams for the forthcoming Indian Super League (ISL) matches to be taking place in September this year, but it is going to cost a long way in order to steal the attention as a sport from the arch rival Cricket in Kerala.
Well, the buffs get divided on discussing the matter. Some of them anticipate that the progress can prove as a resurgence for soccer in the state, on the contrary rest of them figure out that the infrastructure and foundation is not adequate enough to practice, but got ram shackled to such limit over the years that it becomes tough for the soccer veterans to practice properly.
“Yes, there is savvy here and there are crowds waiting for such big league matches to occur here but where are the grounds?” questioned P Paulose, the Ernakulam District Football Association secretary and a former Santhosh Trophy player.
The ISL rules imposed that at least four players should get incorporated in each team who belong to India. As Kerala always plays an important role to yield talented football players, there is a strong chance that players from Kerala would be picked up for the teams.
“But a player has to in some ways have the least stipulation to play in an international match, like an ‘elevens’ ground to practice on. The grounds we have presently are all ‘sevens’ grounds,” Paulose says.
The Kerala Football Association secretary Anil Kumar has thought kind of the same way. He feels that there are many football grounds in Kochi, but those grounds need to be renovated as soon as possible. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium can be taken as an example. It was apparently set up for practicing football and holding football matches in the year 1996.
Anil Kumar opines, “In 1995, the then Chief Minister K Karunakaran was watching a Santhosh Trophy football match at the Maharaja’s college ground when the crowd got out of dealing with. A police lathicharge followed after that, and Karunakaran declared then and there that Kochi would have a proper football stadium the next year. However, both the football association and the cricket association are in charge of the perpetuation of the infrastructures, and in debt to the latter having more funds to fork over, the stadium moderately became a cricket stadium.”
However, football has got advantages as the VIP stands, media stands and the dressing room even were constructed according to a football stadium even now, he says. But practicing is the big issue he believes as there is a lack of proper football friendly infrastructures.
“We have salted away on eight grounds in Kochi and one of them will get ready for the ISL match by September. The rest of the grounds too will be made strides to international levels by 2017, in accordance with the directions of the FIFA team which looked around recently. All we require is the authorization from the authorities concerned -the Sports Council, the college authorities etc.”
Howbeit, every soccer-buff are craving that the spellbound name of Sachin can change things around the sport and coach Seena seems excited as the name of the epitome put enthusiasm among the young players already. “Sachin’s name will surely be a hike up, because ever since the news broke, all the kids in my football academy have been asking us whether they can get a flash of Sachin at the matches.”