KOCHI: The Kerala Football Association has bid for a 2026 FIFA World Cup’s Asian qualifying match and, if allotted, it is likely to be played at Manjeri, in Malappuram District, with Kochi being the second option.
India is in Group ‘A’ of the preliminary round 2 with Qatar, Kuwait and Afghanistan or Mongolia being the fourth side. The matches are likely to be held between November 16 this year and June 11, 2024.
“We have bid for it. We are trying for the India-Kuwait match and hopefully, we may get a confirmation within this week,” said P. Anilkumar, the general secretary of the KFA, told The Hindu on Thursday.
“There are three matches and the first game is likely to happen in November but time is very short for us to host it.”
The KFA had planned to host the FIFA qualifier at Kochi’s Nehru Stadium but there are a few issues with it since it is also a venue for the Kerala Blasters’ home matches in the Indian Super League.
“We were planning to have it in Kochi but the problem is, it is only one match and we have to completely change the entire side of the branding from Blasters and a lot of modifications have to be done,” said Anilkumar who is also the chairman of the All India Football Federation’s competition committee.
“To avoid that, we will try to host it at some other venue. If the Government is supporting us, then Manjeri (Payyanad stadium) is also a good venue. That is the best second option because the Kozhikode stadium is not good enough.”
But good hotels, fit for a FIFA qualifier, is some distance away from Manjeri and that could be an issue.
“I don’t know whether the federation officials will it accept it or not. They will confirm only after the inspection. If they don’t accept Manjeri, then we will have to shift the match to Kochi. We need Government support for everything,” he said.
