KOCHI: Days after kids attending Kerala Blasters’ selection trials were denied entry into the training ground at Panampilly Stadium in Ernakulam by the Ernakulam District Sports Council authorities, another prominent football club in the state, Gokulam Kerala FC, are facing a similar experiencing in Kozhikode. Two-time I-league champions, Gokulam, have been using the EMS Corporation in Kozhikode as their home base since 2017.
However, Gokulam management allege that the officials of Kozhikode Corporation, the owners of the EMS Corporation Stadium, have now informed the club that the corporation does not want to renew the contract with the I-league club. The reason cited by the corporation officials is that the club has failed to properly maintain the stadium, its turf and premises, including the floodlights.
Though no official letter has been sent to the club authorities regarding the new development, club president, VC Praveen claimed that they have been verbally informed about the corporation's decision when they went to renew the contract for the next season. The current contract of Gokulam Kerala with the corporation runs till the end of September this year.
The Gokulam women’s team had completed a hat-trick of IWL titles last Sunday. Forget a congratulatory note, the club authorities are dismayed at the attitude of the corporation officials which sees them facing the prospect of losing their registered home base. “This is a time we should be celebrating, and the state should be feeling proud of our achievements. We have won five national titles in football (two I-league and three IWL). But instead of appreciating our efforts, some politicians are trying to make our lives hard," said Praveen.
More than the decision of the corporation not to renew the contract, their claim that the club has not maintained the property properly is what is hurting the management. "We have spent more than 85 lakhs in the past five years to make this ground playable. The overall condition of the stadium was in shambles when we started training here. We invested a lot of our money and time to improve its infrastructure and then one day we get to hear from them that we did nothing here. It hurts," said Praveen.
Meanwhile, sources in the Kozhikode Corporation indicated that they received a lot of flak when the floodlights at the stadium didn’t function properly during the recently held Super Cup.
Praveen claimed that the floodlights installed at Kozhikode are of old technology and they had to change it every year, spending approximately Rs 1 lakh yearly. "Even if we change the whole bulbs, after two months the bulbs will stop functioning because the whole system is faulty. The club cannot change the entire floodlight system just to host I-League matches. We have tried our best with extra lights whenever I League matches were played here. They (Corporation officials) transferred a faulty system to us and are now asking to repair it," he added.
The faulty floodlight system in Kozhikode had even forced the club to play all its floodlight matches in I-League at Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri in Malappuram last season.
