Floodlight plays spoilsport in Viva match

Image not recovered: As the floodlight did not lit up at the EMS Memorial Stadium at Kozhikode, the match between Viva Kerala and Air India FC was postponed to Friday at 4 AM.

This is the second time an I-League match is postponed due to floodlight problem. The floodlight at the Eastern side of the stadium acted as a killjoy of the game. Earlier, the match between Viva Kerala and JCT was postponed and played a day later due to similar conditions.

Explaining the reasons for the floodlight malfunction, Kozhikode District Football Association (KDFA) president P Haridas said, "It is because of the complaint in the control panel and switch board that the light did not light up. We had run a test on the floodlights for about 2.5 hours yesterday and there was no problem. Today also the light was lit up for about one hour and suddenly some problem occurred to the control panel and one of the floodlights went off,'' he said.

Admitting that last time it was the error of KDFA, he said, ''We are only providing the generators. Rest are maintained by the corporation. Earlier it was due to our mistake that the floodlight went off but this one is a pure technical reason.''

Hinting that floodlight matches will be banned in the future here, match commissioner M S Krishnamoorthy said that he had asked to schedule the match to day time and it was because of KDFA's repeatedly insistance that the match was scheduled under floodlight. "I will submit a report on the matter to AIFF and it is up to them who have to take the necessary steps,'' he said.

The floodlight in the stadium was set up by a Haryana-based company for about Rs 3 crores. So usually, they have to give guarantee for the control panels and switch boards and it is the duty of the corporation to maintain it, said a reliable source to footballkerala on condition of anonymity.

Last time, when the I-League matches were conducted in day time, KDFA incurred a loss of about Rs 3 crore, the source said, explaining the reason for insisting the match commissioner to play under floodlight.

Meanwhile, Viva coach, A M Sreedharan said that the club will incur losses if the matches have to be played in day light. "There will be less number of audience and the chance to approve a floodlight match again here is very less. It is the club that is going to suffer. We were conducting matches with a mutual agreement with KDFA. Now if the matches are rescheduled to day time then there will be income loss,'' he said.

"The players are very tired as they have skipped the lunch. It is same for the Air India players also. Now, they have to reschedule everything. Also, they have to cancel the flights booked tomorrow for their return,'' he said.

When Kozhikode Mayor M Bhaskaran was contacted on the matter, he was oblivious about the problems of floodlight. As the KDFA has already said that it is not their mistake all eyes are on the corporation, which has not maintained the floodlights properly.

From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Thursday 28 January 2010, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.