Martin Joseph By

Express News Service

While on-field performances of Kerala Blasters have come under scrutiny, the club has also been caught up in off-field issues which puts serious question marks over its future. The club CEO Viren D’Silva sat down with Martin Joseph for a chat. Excerpts:

Blasters have raised concerns about the stadium operational costs. What is the problem?

The cost of running a game in Kochi is double that of a game anywhere else in the country. The understanding is that we want a waiver on stadium fee and other charges. FC Goa doesn’t spend more than Rs 3.5-4 crores. We are paying almost double. We paid them (GCDA) ` 5 lakhs as rent. Now they are asking for a 20 per cent hike. But it is really not about the Rs five or six lakhs. If you give me a good stadium and increase the rent by a certain amount, then no one will have a problem. But you can’t give me a stadium where I’m spending more than I’m making and then if you’re saying that I’m only charging 20 per cent - that’s the crux of the problem.

We have only nine games at home and I cannot take on the burden of maintaining an entire stadium right from one bulb spoiled in the floodlight to the generator. The `5 or 6 lakh might be a small percentage of what we need to pay, but we are spending another Rs 6 crore on hosting the games every year which is because of the high costs of the stadium.

Isn’t the club supposed to pay for maintenance?

We are supposed to and we are doing up the maintenance. But that is not the case in the world. When a franchise comes to a US City, the state helps them with a stadium. And that is happening now in India. Otherwise, the franchise will not survive. In Odisha, they give you a free stadium, free practice venue and free housing for the academy, sponsorship, the police security is free.

When you go to the North East, these things are happening. Why? Because they understand that when a club comes to the state, it needs the local support. If it’s left to us then we’ll have to take care of it. That’s where we are struggling. If we are in a place where we are struggling to pay about Rs 6-6.2 crores year on year, we need help. If I don’t spend it here, I’ll spend it on bringing better players and getting better grassroots coaches. The money is going to go elsewhere and will be better deployed.

What is the solution?

I think somewhere down the line there is a perspective that this is a private event. But we want people to see this as a public event. Our ultimate goal is for Kerala football to grow. If that grows and the fanbase grows, the game grows and it is a win-win situation. For that we need support. We need help right at the start and not in areas where it’s not possible. Support in terms of waivers and concessions.

Have you considered shifting base away from Kochi?

You don’t want a case of another club leaving Kerala. You don’t want to see a football club shutting down. Before any of that happens, we have to try to survive. The only way is to say - help us. No one wants to be confrontational. Ultimately everyone has to do their work. If it is not a conducive environment, then it becomes difficult for us to survive. There is no question of leaving or staying. We need to think long term and how we can focus our energy and money in the right direction.

How much loss has the club incurred over the years?

I really don’t want to talk about it but they are in double digits. Depending on how well we do, there are certain changes. We’ve invested over Rs 200 crores into football.