The Kozhikode Corporation has decided to end its contract with Gokulam Kerala FC for the latter to use the Corporation’s EMS Stadium as its home ground.
A meeting of the Corporation council on Friday noted that the Club had not been able to maintain the stadium in good condition as agreed in the contract, and hence made the decision not to renew the contract.
Sree Gokulam Football Club had entered into a one-year contract with the Kozhikode Corporation in August 2018 under which the club was to pay the Corporation an annual user fee of ₹3 lakh and was bound to maintain the grass bed, gallery, seating, and flood light in the stadium at its own expense. The contract has been extended every year since then.
However, the Corporation realised that the Club was not keeping its end of the bargain, of maintaining the stadium, before the Super Cup in April. The flood light was in poor condition, and the Club refused to carry out maintenance despite the Corporation’s request to do so. The Corporation then entrusted the work to Kozhikode District Football Association which carried out maintenance in a hurry before the championship began.
The Corporation has invited expression of interest from agencies for future maintenance of the stadium and decided not to renew the contract with Sree Gokulam Club after the present contract concludes in August 2023.
