Super League Kerala to have two more teams

The Super League Kerala could very well have eight teams this season.

“We will soon advertise inviting bids for the teams,” Navas Meeran, the KFA president and one of the men behind the launch of the league that has proved a surprise hit in little time, told The Hindu. “We want at least one of the new teams to be from southern Kerala.”

Of the six teams that played in the first two seasons of SLK, only one is from the State’s southern districts – Thiruvananthapuram Kombans. “We want to ensure that the league is spread across Kerala, not just the northern districts, where football has always been very popular,” Navas said. “We already have franchises from Kozhikode, Malappuram and Kannur. Kasaragod could also get one this season.”

He said another plan was to have the SLK games played in the Gulf countries. “We were hoping to take the SLK outside Kerala this season itself, but we are not sure because of the Iran war,” he said. “We have had a lot of viewers for the league from outside Kerala for the first two seasons.”

Navas said the KFA was delighted with the success of the AFC Asian Cup qualifier between India and Hong Kong China at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. “It was great that more than 22,000 people turned up to watch the match, which was the first international match Kochi was hosting in a decade,” he said.

“Yes, the incident of the Indian coach not being allowed to conduct a press conference by the Greater Cochin Development Authority, because of delay in payment of the ground’s rent and security deposit, was unfortunate and should not have happened.”

Navas said the response from the crowd for the India match was very encouraging for the KFA. “We should have more international matches in Kerala,” he said. “We are, in fact, thinking of reviving the Nehru Gold Cup. We will talk to the All India Football Federation about having that tournament in Kerala.”