KOCHI: Kerala’s commercial capital is likely to be preferred over Cuttack for AIFF’s inaugural Super Cup, to be held from March 31 to April 22.
The decision is likely to be taken next week for the tournament which will see 16 teams participating in the final round of the knockout tournament which will be held from March 31-April 22, Times of India reports.
“The Barabati Stadium, which is where the AIFF want to host the event, is used for both football and cricket and hence has a cricket pitch in the centre of the ground. The Kochi ground too has a cricket pitch but it was covered well because of the U-17 World Cup last year. Also, you need to provide accommodation for 16 teams, which is a lot to ask from Cuttack,” a source is quoted as saying in the report.
“Since the tournament is clashing with the Indian Premier League (IPL), we wanted non-IPL venues and therefore shortlisted these two (Cuttack and Kochi). The Odisha football officials contacted us and assured us that they could host the tournament as well as provide accommodation. So we’ll inspect it and take it from there,” I-League CEO Sunando Dhar, however, said.
