A ‘special ride’ for members of participating teams and painting the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium station at Kaloor with soccer-themed visuals top the plans of Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) ahead of the prestigious FIFA under-17 World Cup matches to be held here in October.
“Yes, we are joining the spirit of football by coming up with something special for the teams. The KMRL is planning to commission the Palarivattom-Maharaja’s College ground corridor before the start of the World Cup,” Elias George, Managing Director of the agency, told The Hindu on Monday. The tournament is being held in six Indian cities, including Kochi, from October 6 to 28.
Stating that the metro would help hundreds commute between the main stadium at Kaloor and the training ground for the event at Maharaja’s College ground, Mr. George agreed that the under-17 World Cup presented a huge potential for the city to showcase its credentials before the world. “Football fans from across the globe could use the metro to reach the main venue and other destinations,” he said.
The KMRL has plans to paint the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium station and its premises with themes that reflect the passion for sports among Keralites, especially football. Already, the agency has decided to make sporting heritage of the State the theme of the Kaloor international stadium station. Mr. George said that soccer-themed visuals would come up all along the stadium and the path leading to the main stadium. “KMRL hopes to leverage the festival of football by coming up with special plans for participating teams,” he said.
The agency hopes that its brand image would take a leap by partnering with the world sporting event, especially after it hit international headlines for becoming the first government-owned company in the country that formally appointed transgenders in its workforce. It had recruited 23 persons from the transgender community to take care of counters and to do housekeeping tasks in stations. The agency had also recruited another 500 workers from Kudumbasree Mission to do various tasks in stations.
The participating agencies at the local level for the World Cup seem upbeat after Brazil, Spain, Niger and DPR Korea came under Group D, the matches of which will be held in Kochi from October 7. According to the FIFA website, Brazil will take on Spain, and Korea is pitted against Niger on October 7. Korea will meet Brazil in the match scheduled on October 10 while Guinea will play against Germany in one of the Group C matches scheduled here on October 13. Spain and Korea will also come face to face on October 13. Kochi will also host a pre-quarter final match on October 18 and a quarter final on October 22.
