No stadium to play

Although yet chasing for a maiden title and a jeremiad of other issues aside, Kerala Blasters can still brag about having a loyal fan base that keeps swelling. This season, uncertainty remains as to whether Blasters will be able to play ISL at their home ground, Kochi Kaloor Stadium. The issue concerns the increase in the rent demanded by the stadium owners, the Greater Cochin Development Authority.

The ISL season was delayed by five months due to a dispute and court proceedings between the All India Football Federation and a private company, FDSL. It was only with the intervention of the Union Sports Ministry that the federation paved the way for the league to be held by spending its own money to ensure that the season was not disrupted.

When the league resumed after surpassing many hurdles, the GCDA came up with yet another roadblock, citing rent. Blasters, who left Kochi this season and looked for another stadium, had almost confirmed the Kozhikode Corporation Stadium. However, since renovation works were not completed, a plan was made to choose Manjeri instead. While those discussions were progressing, the GCDA approached Blasters with the request not to leave Kochi. The club agreed to the terms put forward by GCDA chairman that the daily rent would be reduced from Rs 8.4 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. However, when the game resumed, GCDA turned their back on blasters. The GCDA informed that the executive committee had not approved the rent reduction and that the rent should be paid at Rs 4.25 lakh per game.

GCDA had already deducted Rs 28 lakh from the one crore rupees paid as a deposit for the stadium, calculating the loss incurred. The GCDA is adamant that Rs 28 lakh and the revised rent of Rs 4.25 lakh each for the remaining eight matches, totalling Rs 36.16 lakh, be paid together. The club decided that it cannot give in to this. Before the first match, the media room in the stadium was closed, and even the team owners were evicted, causing embarrassment. Several discussions were held, but to no avail. The Blasters' owners say that GCDA officials are even blaming the team management for the accident of MLA Uma Thomas. Blasters have also been forced to pay the cost of repairing the water leak issue, created by organisers who carried out renovation works in the pretext of bringing Lionel Messi to Kochi. GCDA has received crores in rent from Blasters for the last 11 years!

In states like West Bengal, the government itself has come forward to provide football stadiums to clubs without excessive rent. This shows why Bengal continues to nurture football prodigies. Stadiums are not for businesses and cultural events to fill the pockets of institutions like GCDA. There should be an intervention at the government level to release the stadiums for matches by charging only maintenance costs.