New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) Players and the head coach of the Indian men’s senior team were on Thursday denied entry at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi for a press conference over non-payment of a mandatory security deposit to the stadium owners by the Kerala Football Association.
The Indian players, including three from the state, and head coach Khalid Jamil arrived at the stadium for a pre-match press conference ahead the senior national team’s final AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers fixture against Hong Kong on March 31.
However, they were denied entry due to a dispute over the unpaid amount between the The Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA), which owns the stadium, and the Kerala Football Association.
“The issue is that the Kerela 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) said.
As a result, the press conference was called off.
But the source added that the match should go ahead as scheduled as the money will be deposited three days before the game.
Jamil was accompanied by home grown players Ashique Kuruniyan, Sahal Abdul Samad, and Bijoy Varghese.
As per Asian Football Confederation criteria, a stadium needs to be booked for four days for an AFC fixture.
This is not the first such incident involving the GCDA. Earlier, a press conference of Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters FC was similarly disrupted during the current ISL season ahead of their match against Mumbai City FC last month.
Jamil had named a 23-member squad for the last match. The Blue Tigers began their camp in Kochi on Tuesday.
With India already ruled out of qualification for the Asian Cup, the match serves as preparation for future assignments. PTI AH AH BS BS
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