The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, or the Kaloor Stadium, as it is popularly known in this part of the world, has become synonymous with football, thanks to the Indian Super League and the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
It is the home ground of the Kerala Blasters. More often than not, every time the 'Men in Yellow' take the field, the whole stadium turns into a sea of yellow. The team is co-owned by legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. Perhaps, it is this association between the game of football, which the Malayalis love so much, and the 'god of cricket' that makes the Blasters, arguably, the most popular team in the ISL.
However, the two widely-loved games could be in for a major clash if the Kerala Cricket Association has its way. The BCCI had awarded the right to host a One Day International match between India and West Indies on November 1, to the KCA. The West Indies will play two Tests, five ODIs and a one-off T20I in India. Mumbai, Guwahati, Indore and Pune will host the other ODIs.
Almost everybody expected the match to be played at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, which hosted a T20I match between India and New Zealand in November last year. Also because, around that time, ISL 2018-19 will be on.
But the KCA surprised everybody by saying that it intends to host the match at the JLN Stadium in Kochi. "We moved the match (India-New Zealand T20I) to the Greenfield Stadium only because the Kochi stadium was used by the FIFA for the 2017 U-17 World Cup. But we have an agreement in place with the stadium owners Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) that lets us have the first option to host matches there," said Jayesh George, KCA secretary, to The New Indian Express. KCA president Ronklin John, too, concurred, “It was a one-off decision to play in the capital city as we had to respect the FIFA regulations. We will definitely want to conduct the ODI in Kochi now that the World Cup is over.”
However, going by the reaction of fans and celebrities like Tendulkar himself, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, and Kerala Blasters players C.K. Vineeth, Iain Hume and Rino Anto, it seems like the Kochi turf will not go down without a fight.
Worried about the potential damage to the FIFA approved World class Football turf in Kochi. Urge the KCA to take the right decision where cricket (Thiruvananthapuram) and Football (Kochi) can happily coexist. pic.twitter.com/rs5eZmhFDP
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) March 20, 2018
All of them took to social media to express their displeasure with the KCA's decision. While Sachin urged the KCA to allow cricket and football to “happily coexist”, Tharoor termed the KCA's motive as “highly suspect”, and Vineeth and Hume questioned the logic behind holding the match in Kochi when there is a cricket stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. The #SaveKochiTurf, a hashtag used by the star footballers, has sparked off a debate over the issue on social media platforms. Brazilian Marcelo Leite or Marcelinho, captain of FC Pune City FC, too, tweeted in support of the Kochi turf.
Spoke to CoA Chief VinodRai to denounce Kerala Cricket Assn's bizarre decision to transfer the India-WI ODI from a match-ready Trivandrum stadium to Kochi, whose ground was last used for the U17 Football World Cup. He has promised to review the matter. KCA motives highly suspect
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) March 19, 2018
The JN Stadium is one of only six in India that are FIFA approved,a certification that will take immense effort to obtain again. When India has been known for being a 'cricket crazy' nation, is it really necessary to dig up a football pitch to play a cricket match? #SaveKochiTurf
— CK Vineeth (@ckvineeth) March 19, 2018
The turf was renovated as part of the refurbishment at the stadium ahead of the FIFA U-17 World Cup last year. However, if the KCA goes ahead with its decision, the turf will have to be dug up to lay the cricket pitch.
Not only the players, fan groups of the ISL teams like Chennaiyin FC, Bengaluru FC and FC Pune City, and the Blaster's own fan group 'Manjapada' (Yellow Army), have set aside their rivalries and come out strongly against the move.
Interestingly, Javier Ceppi, CEO and tournament director of the FIFA U-17 WC organising committee, tweeted that the JLN Stadium was renovated as a multi-purpose stadium and so, it won't be a problem to reconvert the pitch back to a football turf. However, even he agreed that “hosting an ODI in the middle of football season doesn't seem prudent”.
The issue is timing. An objective kept for our renovation was to make sure that JNI pitch could be converted from football to cricket and back without major issues if proper care and work is done. But hosting an ODI in the middle of football season doesnt seem prudent
— Javier Ceppi (@JavierCeppi) March 20, 2018
But the catch is that if the KCA gives in to the pressure and decides to shift the match back to Thiruvananthapuram, then it will raise questions on the relevance of the existing agreement between the cricket body and the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA). The GCDA has leased out the JLN Stadium to the KCA for 30 years, for an annual rent. Kerala Blasters and the Kerala Football Association pay for it as per use. If the KCA ends the agreement and the stadium is used only for football henceforth, then the club and the association will have to bear the cost of maintaining it.
With the backlash on one hand, and the agreement with the GCDA on the other, it's a googly that the KCA will have to deal with a straight bat.