India men’s football team coach Khalid Jamil and some players were denied entry to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi for a press conference on Thursday. The reason being the Kerala Football Association’s non-payment of a mandatory security deposit to the stadium owners. According to a report by news agency PTI, the players and Jamil arrived at the venue on time for the media interaction ahead of the Blue Tigers’ final AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers fixture against Hong Kong on March 31.
However, they were then denied entry inside the venue due to the ongoing dispute over the unpaid amount between the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA), which owns the stadium, and the Kerala Football Association. Once the members were denied permission to enter the venue, the press conference had to be called off.
“The issue is that the Kerala FA (football association) was supposed to pay a certain amount to the stadium authorities to block the stadium for four days for the match. That’s why the authorities blocked entry,” a source in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) told PTI.
However, the cancellation of the media interaction won’t affect the upcoming game, as the AIFF source said the match would proceed as the money is set to be deposited three days before the game.
The head coach, Jamil, was accompanied by homegrown players Ashique Kuruniyan, Sahal Abdul Samad, and Bijoy Varghese.
What do the rules say?
According to the Asian Football Confederation’s rules, a stadium must be booked for 4 days for an AFC game. This is not the first time such an incident involving the GCDA has been reported.
Earlier, a press conference for the ISL club Kerala Blasters was disrupted due to the same reason. India football coach Jamil had named a 23-member squad for the upcoming match. The Blue Tigers had begun their camp on March 24.
With India already ruled out of qualification for the Asian Cup, the match serves as preparation for future assignments.
