ISL’s chair of thorns

KOCHI: The official seating capacity of the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi has been fixed at 39,000 after the venue was made an all-seater arena ahead of the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup. Week in, week out, herds of Kerala Blasters fans pay a premium to book their seats to witness their favourite team battle it out against some of the best football teams from different parts of the country.
But when you book your ticket through the counters or online to ensure a seat for the match, it is not a given that you could get a seat at the stadium to watch the Indian Super League (ISL) match. Why? Because a good number of the seats at the venue has been removed or partially damaged during the first two home games and no repair has been carried out by the Kerala Blasters management who made a pact with the GCDA, the owner of the stadium, to maintain the facility.

“During the inaugural ISL match, we were forced to sit on the floor at the stadium for watching the match as there were no seats available for us to sit. Even during the second match, the same situation arose for many, but fortunately for us, we got seats to sit. However, the seat we got was broken and damaged. It is a clear case of injustice as we spend a hefty amount for getting the ISL tickets,” said Saji S, a Blaster’s fan who had came all the way from Palakkad to watch the ISL matches.

Anson Gladson who also came enthusiastically to watch the match was shocked to see the pathetic state of the stadium. Expressing his disappointment Anson tweeted the photos of the damaged chairs during one of the matches. “The pathetic condition of JNI Stadium. Expressing an early solution,” read his tweet which was tagged to ISL, Kerala Blasters, and Manjappada.

As per the report prepared by the GCDA engineering wing, around 300 chairs were damaged in the inaugural match of the ISL. However, the Blasters authorities did nothing to replace them before the next match.

“As per the bylaw inked with the Kerala Blasters, the damaged chairs have to be replaced immediately before the next match. But the Blasters have done nothing to replace the chairs. It is a blatant violation of the agreement signed with the GCDA,” said a GCDA official, who wished to remain unanimous.  
As a part of revamping the stadium ahead of the U-17 World cup, the government had spent nearly Rs 25 crore for the renovation of the stadium which includes installing bucket chairs at the stadium, besides improving the other facilities of the stadium. “It is the responsibility of the Blasters management to ensure proper seating facility for the visitors at the stadium. As per our direction to ensure safety, the Blasters has put barricades to control the crowd. We will discuss the matter with the Kerala Blasters and will direct them to resolve the issue,” said CN Mohanan, GCDA, Chairman.

When contacted Blaster’s CEO Varun Tripuraneni told ‘Express’ the matter will be looked into.
 “So far I am not aware of any such issues. We will definitely investigate if this (lack of seating facility and damaged seats) is true,”any situation like that,” said Tripuraneni adding that he has received no reports from GCDA on the issue.