Kerala Blasters evicted from their home ground on eve of first home match in ISL

Just when it appeared that Indian football had emerged from its worst phase, there was an unprecedented development in Kochi on the eve of an Indian Super League (ISL) match: The Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) evicted Kerala Blasters from their home ground.

Officials of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), including Match Commissioner Arunava Bhattacharya, were also reportedly told to leave the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium (JNI) at Kaloor on the eve of the ISL match between Kerala Blasters and Mumbai City FC.

The GCDA, which owns JNI, took the drastic step allegedly in connection with a dispute over rent. After agreeing to a ₹2 lakh rent per match earlier this month, the GCDA backtracked and demanded ₹4.2 lakh just two days before the fixture, upsetting the Blasters management.

A series of meetings took place since Friday, but the GCDA refused to budge, setting the Blasters a 4 pm deadline on Saturday to pay the full rent and a balance liability amount of ₹22,85,359. A source in the GCDA told Onmanorama that the Blasters have only paid ₹5 lakh of the total owed. The statutory body has maintained that the Blasters can head back to the venue once the amount is paid in full, even if it was late in the night.

Earlier in the day, the GCDA also removed media persons from the press conference hall when they arrived for the pre-match meeting with Head Coach David Catala and midfielder Rowllin Borges. GCDA's security personnel directed the journalists to leave the hall before locking it up. The press conference was later held online.

Naturally, coach Catala had an unusual question to tackle during the presser. "Which is your home ground?" The Spaniard, who has yet to manage a match at the home ground, laughed before saying: "We just have this in mind that we can play tomorrow's game in the stadium and enjoy in front of our fans. My concern is to focus on the sporting aspect and make the team ready. We believe that we can play in the stadium."

Kerala Blasters have played at Kochi since the club was formed in 2014. There was a move to relocate to Kozhikode, but the Blasters had to return to Kochi as the venue in north Kerala was not in a playable condition after being rented out for a bike race.