Thrissur: While a new football turf at the Corporation Stadium brings joy to football enthusiasts, there is fear that the dreams of athletes might be plunged into darkness forever. Athletes and coaches state that the possibility of constructing a synthetic track has diminished after the Corporation granted permission to build a new turf at the stadium for the Super League Kerala football tournament.

Although Olympic Association President P T Usha had offered to provide a track and football turf free of charge through the Khelo India scheme, the Corporation scuttled the plan by claiming it would construct it from its own funds – a claim now seen as a boast.

The Corporation Stadium is being handed over for 5 years to host the Super League. The Super League club will bear the entire cost of demolishing the existing turf and laying a new one measuring 106 metres in length and 70 metres in width. Four new floodlights will also be installed. Super League authorities will also provide movable goalposts, dressing rooms, cabins, a renovated gallery, new barricades, and pavilion renovation, along with the new turf.

The earlier offer to construct a synthetic track for athletics along with the turf, at the cost of ₹14 crore through Khelo India, had been thwarted due to the Corporation's non-cooperation. Initially, the Corporation had announced that it would spend ₹10 crore from its own funds to build the turf, citing concerns about losing control over the stadium.

Realizing that the Corporation's promise was unlikely to materialize, concerned parties independently prepared a new memorandum of understanding and submitted it to the Union Ministry of Sports, requesting allocation of funds for the track. Experts say that approval for this is unlikely.

The stadium has been handed over to Super League Kerala with the condition that if central funds are received, the project should be allowed to proceed without hindrance. However, there are indications that an 8-lane synthetic track construction is now unlikely due to the increased width of the newly constructed turf.

The playing area of the existing turf at the Corporation Stadium has a length of 100 metres and a width of 64 metres. With an additional 4 metres in the outer area, the turf's width becomes 68 metres. The international standard for a football turf constructed within a synthetic track is 105 metres in length and 68 metres in width. It is understood that the Corporation has granted permission for the construction of a new turf with further increased length and width.

This would result in the four corners of the turf encroaching track area. This will make it difficult to set up long jump pits, triple jump pits, and javelin runways. An international standard track can only be realized if the turf is constructed to its existing dimensions.