After plenty of drama, Kerala Blasters’ first home game to be played in Kochi

There was drama aplenty on the eve of Kerala Blasters’ first home match. But at the end of it all, it emerged that the ISL game against Mumbai City will go ahead as per schedule at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday.

Till late into the evening, there was no clarity, as the stadium’s owner Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) didn’t allow the Blasters’ press conference inside the stadium – it had to be held online – and then the club’s officials were reportedly asked to leave. And it all had to do with money.

The GCDA, which had earlier agreed to make the stadium available to Blasters for Rs. 2 lakh per match, demanded more than double that amount. There was also the issue of the money that the franchise had to deposit.

According to sources, after hours of discussions, involving the GCDA and the management, it was decided that Sunday’s match could take place. There is, however, no certainty about the other matches that Blasters is scheduled to play in Kochi.

Blasters had, in fact, considered the Corporation Stadium in Kozhikode as the venue for this season, in order to cut operational costs. Given the uncertainties about the ISL, the Blasters management had said that there was a dip in the revenue from the sponsorship revenue, and it could not afford the rent (Rs. 8.4 lakh per match) that it had been paying the GCDA.

But, after the club made it known its intention to move its base to Kozhikode, the GCDA, which had also received a request from the All India Football Federation, offered to reduce the rent. And there was a last-minute change in the ISL fixtures; the matches originally allotted to Kozhikode were now moved to Kochi.

And then all the drama happened. Not untypical of Indian football, of course.