Kochi gearing up for India’s AFC qualifier against Hong Kong

Kochi is gearing up for its date with international football after a decade-long gap. India takes on Hong Kong in an Asia Cup qualifier at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Tuesday.

The visitors arrived at Kochi on Friday. The Blue Tigers have already begun their practice sessions at the Kerala Blasters training facility in Tripunithura.

The last time the Indian team played in Kochi was in 2016 (World Cup qualifying match against Turkmenistan). The Kerala Football Association president, Navas Meeran, said the association didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to bring international football back to Kerala.

“That is why we took on the responsibility to host this match,” Navas told The Hindu. “The preparations are in full swing. And we do hope to get a crowd for the match, especially with three players from Kerala in the Indian squad.”

No permission

Sahal Samad, Ashique Kuruniyan and Bijoy Varghese, however, could not take part in a press conference as scheduled. They were supposed to accompany coach Khalid Jamil for the press meet, but that could not go ahead, as the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) did not give permission to use the stadium as the KFA had failed to make the payment towards rent and security deposit.

Navas said the issue had been resolved. “It was just a technical issue, though there was fault from our side, too,” he said. “But incidents like this should not happen. Now, we are all looking forward to making the match a success.”