KOCHI: The venue Kochi is less likely to be considered by FIFA for India's World Cup qualifying rounds. Earlier, the Kerala football association wrote a letter to AIFF requesting any one match to be played in Kochi.

Kochi has already earned a place in the All India Football Federation's list, but discerning the current scenario, the venue will not host any of the matches. As per FIFA norms, all the shops in the stadium have to be evacuated during the match, and it will be an arduous task to execute for the association.

As the matches are in the international category, FIFA will be wanting adept facilities (quality-wise) and it will be too much of a burden for the association to handle. India is in Group A with Qatar and Kuwait. Either Afghanistan or Mongolia will be included as the fourth team in the group. The qualifying matches are set to begin in November. Kochi earlier hosted U-17 world cup matches in 2019. Kochi is the home ground for the ISL team Kerala Blasters.