Over a hundred aspiring football talents and their parents who turned up at the Government School at Panampilly Nagar here for the Under-15 selection trials to the Kerala Blasters Residential Academy were left in the lurch following what appears to be an internal rift between Kerala Sports Council (KSC) and District Sports Council (DSC), on Monday.
The players who were selected at the preliminary trials held at the Maharaja’s College ground earlier this month turned up for the final trials from across the State in the early hours of the day only to find the school gate locked. The security reportedly refused to open the gate claiming that he had specific direction to that effect from DSC, leaving the children and their parents without even restroom facilities.
The Kerala Blasters had been using the school ground for practice and conducting trials for a reported monthly rent of ₹1.20 lakh.
DSC president P.V. Sreenijin, MLA, said the school remained closed since there was communication neither from KSC nor the Kerala Blasters about the trial. “Further, the Kerala Blasters owe DSC over ₹8 lakh towards rent for eight months. We had written to them asking to pay up following which they unilaterally walked out of the agreement signed with DSC in 2021. They claim to have struck an agreement with KSC which was informed repeatedly about dues owed to DSC but in vain,” he said.
Mr. Sreenijin was critical of KSC for allegedly taking a favourable position towards the Kerala Blasters overlooking the rightful dues to DSC. He also said that DSC would move the court to recover the dues.
However, KSC president U. Sharaf Ali said there were no such dues, and that the Kerala Blasters was well within its rights to use the ground for practice and trials as per the existing agreement. “There was no need for such an objection from DSC since an agreement exists between KSC and the Kerala Blasters,” he said.
Division councillor Malini Kurup said it was following her intervention that the security opened the school gate. “A rift between KSC and DSC led to the unfortunate incident. We came to know that DSC president had specifically asked the security guard to keep the gate locked denying access to the ground for the trials,” she said. The Kerala Blasters authorities were not available for comments.
The trials, which were originally scheduled to start around 7.30 a.m. and to be wrapped up around 10.30 a.m. to spare the participants the searing heat eventually, had to be conducted under the baking sun and ended at 2.30 p.m.
Meanwhile, Yuva Morcha activists took out a protest march to the DSC office against Mr. Sreenijin’s alleged action denying participants and their parents access to the ground. The march was led by Yuva Morcha district president Vaisakh Raveendran.
