Realising a long-pending demand of football enthusiasts in the district, the soccer ground at Noorani in the heart of Palakkad town has turned into an astroturf stadium that could be the venue for national and international competitions.
The fourth astroturf football stadium in the State, Noorani is the first in Palakkad district to achieve such a distinction. The ground, which helped evolve the State’s finest players, got a new lease of life thanks to the intervention by Shafi Parambil MLA, who spent ₹2.54 crore from his local area fund for the project.
Minister A.C. Moideen inaugurated the turf in the presence of former Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutiya.
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A number of veteran football players in the State attended the event along with people’s representatives.
Mr. Bhutiya led a set of eminent football players in a friendly match held after the inauguration. Kerala football veterans I.M. Vijayan, U. Sharafali, C.V. Pappachan, V.P. Shaji, Asif Saheer, P. Usman and Jiju Jacob have formed part of the team. The rival team comprised M.B. Rajesh, MP, MLAs Shafi Parambil, R. Rajesh and V.T. Balram, municipal vice chairman C. Krishnakumar, district Superintendent of Police Pratheesh Kumar, and artist Kalabhavan Shajohn. A huge gathering witnessed the event from temporary galleries. “It used to be an isolated ground lacking any facilities. However, players preferred to play here in appreciation of the public enthusiasm. If we have not intervened, the ground may have been reduced to a waste land,” Mr Shafi Parambil said.
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Premiere matches
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The stadium will be used in future as a venue for premiere football matches. “The Kerala Football Association is permitting league matches to be conducted only in turf stadiums. The stadium is expected to be a venue for State-level league matches in the future,” Mr Shafi added.
The Infrastructure monitoring for the project was done by Suntech Mumbai. The turf was imported from a FIFA-recognised firm of Finland.