Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, who is also the co-owner of Kerala Blasters Football Club, on Tuesday, expressed concern over the decision by the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) to host an ODI match between India and West Indies at Jawaharlal Nehru International stadium.
Taking to Twitter, Sachin said that he was concerned about the damage that could be done to the FIFA-approved football ground in Kochi, used to host the Indian Super League.
"Worried about the potential damage to the FIFA approved world-class football turf in Kochi. Urge the KCA to take the right decision where cricket (Thiruvananthapuram) and Football (Kochi) can happily coexist," he tweeted.
Sachin also said that he spoke to Committee of Administrators (CoA) Chief Vinod Rai.
"Urged Vinod Rai who has promised to look into the matter. Hoping that neither the cricket nor the football fans are disappointed," he said.
Worried about the potential damage to the FIFA approved World class Football turf in Kochi. Urge the KCA to take the right decision where cricket (Thiruvananthapuram) and Football (Kochi) can happily coexist. pic.twitter.com/rs5eZmhFDP
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) March 20, 2018
Urged Shri. Vinod Rai who has promised to look into the matter. Hoping that neither the cricket nor the football fans are disappointed. @BCCI @KCAcricket
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) March 20, 2018
This comes a day after Kerala Blasters star striker CK Vineeth took to Twitter over the proposed move and questioned if a football pitch needed to be dug up to play a cricket match.
Other players from the team, including Rino Anto and Iain Hume, also took to social media to denounce the idea of hosting a cricket match at their home stadium.
The JN Stadium is one of only six in India that are FIFA approved,a certification that will take immense effort to obtain again. When India has been known for being a 'cricket crazy' nation, is it really necessary to dig up a football pitch to play a cricket match? #SaveKochiTurf
— CK Vineeth (@ckvineeth) March 19, 2018
Us players spend 90 minutes on the pitch. FIFA officials come and go. Fans come, shout and leave. But throughout the year, there are men and women who spend countless hours under the sun making sure that our stage is set. Let’s not do this to them. #SaveKochiTurf pic.twitter.com/5rHnzSstTH
— Rino Anto (@rinoanto) March 19, 2018
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had earlier decided to award the KCA, the right to host an ODI between India and West Indies in November. The game is scheduled for November 1, 2018.
The football pitch was first prepared for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017, but an ODI match would mean that the pitch would need to be made suitable for cricket.
The issue was also brought to the notice of Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who tweeted, “Spoke to CoA Chief Vinod Rai to denounce KCA's bizarre decision to transfer the India-WI ODI from a match-ready Trivandrum stadium to Kochi, whose ground was last used for the U-17 Football World Cup. He has promised to review the matter.”
The MP also said that he suspected KCA’s motives.