KOCHI: The Indian men’s football team faced a fresh embarrassment on Thursday, this time before they could even take the field. National head coach Khalid Jamil and the team were denied entry to the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi, the venue for India’s Asia Cup qualifier against Hong Kong on March 31. Jamil arrived at the stadium to inspect the pitch and attend a scheduled press conference but was denied entry by Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) officials.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!GCDA security personnel also stopped the Indian team from training at the stadium. The team later had to train at the Kerala Blasters training ground in Trippunithura, 10 kilometers from the stadium. GCDA officials said they acted on instructions from the secretary and chairman not to allow anyone to enter the stadium premises until the entire rent and security deposit was paid by the Kerala Football Association (KFA), the host association for India’s Asia Cup qualifier with Hong Kong here on March 31.
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Football is coming back to Delhi! SC Delhi is gearing up for the first ISL home match KFA president Navas Meeran said: “The Asian Cup qualifiers will continue as planned. What happened on Thursday was a minor technical problem and it will be resolved soon,” he said.The GCDA is demanding a security deposit of Rs 25 million and rent of Rs 3 million. The KFA agreed to pay, but the GCDA demanded the full amount on Thursday itself before allowing the planned press conference and training to go ahead. Although KFA asked for more time, GCDA refused.Meanwhile, coach Jamil arrived at the stadium for a press conference and ground tour, but after a long wait at the KFA office in the middle of the dispute, he was left with no option but to leave. Security personnel also prevented journalists from entering the press conference, saying they had orders from higher authorities not to let anyone in. The main gate was later locked.
