Stadium plan back to square one?

BENGALURU: It's home to India's champion football club and passionate fans. Its pleasant weather makes it one of the favourite cities for the Indian senior team. But all these qualities were not enough for the Garden City to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup The city, which figured in the first short-list of eight cities prepared by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), lost out due to the collective failure of the Karnataka State Football Association and the government machinery which failed to find the right company to rebuild the stadium in time.“When we ask, the officials tell us work will start so on. But nothing has happened. We missed a great chance to host the World Cup and the KSFA should take the blame,“ a former player said.According to a senior official part of the FIFA delegation that visited the city in 2014, the city lost out because it didn't have a stadium. The city ticked most box es but where will you conduct the matches! Bengaluru's plan to host some matches in the tournament never moved an inch without any work on the stadium,“ he said. “There was no second visit from the delegation as there was no progress on the ground.“The KSFA officials said they had firmed up plans to rebuild the stadium in July 2013 even before FIFA allotted the tournament to India. But they lost the plot in the next two years. “We lost two crucial years as we waited for JSW to start work on the stadium. Finally, when we called for a tender in June 2015 it was already late,“ a senior football official said.Reacting to KSFA officials allegations that JSW delayed the project asking for sub-lease of the stadium, a company official wondered how else anyone could recover the cost. “Whoever comes forward to build the stadium will ask for a sublease as that's the only way to recover the huge investment. Even Wembley Stadium is given out to concerts and dirt-cross events but after that it continues to host football,“ he said adding that despite KSFA's efforts, then led by AR Khaleel, the file got stuck in the urban development ministry.“KSFA was not the final authority and we needed clearance from various government departments,“ the official said. KSFA officials in Kolkata Local fans may have missed out the final action but some state association officials have made use of complimentary tickets provided by AIFF to watch the matches. “A few KSFA officials have left for Kolkata to watch the final. The AIFF has provided them tickets but they have to pay for travel and accommodation,“ sources told STOI.More than four years after the KSFA AGM decided to rebuild the stadium, work is yet to start on the project. “The new president NA Harris assured us in a recent meeting that we'll rebuild the stadium soon,“ another KSFA official said.Ozone group, which was declared by KSFA as winner of the closed bidding, is yet to announce its plans and none of its officials were available for comment. Meanwhile, Embassy Group, which lost the bidding race to Ozone, recently staked its claim to rebuild the stadium citing various lapses in the tender evaluation process.