Kolkata : One of the prominent clubs of Kerala, Gokulam Kerala FC, will be unable to participate in Durand Cup 2024 due to unavailability of Stadiums.
Gokulam Kerala, a team which clinched Durand Cup 2019 defeating Bengal giant in final entering Kolkata, did not feature in any of the 6 groups this tournament.
The reason, according to a club official, is that the club is yet to start its pre-season camp pending an issue relating to playing ground with the Kozhikode Corporation.
“We haven’t started our pre-season camp owing to the ground issue”, the official informed IANS. “By the second week of August, we will be starting our pre-season camp as we have not yet resolved our issue regarding playing ground with the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation,” the official said.
“Until the issue is sorted out, we cannot commit to any tournament,” the official added.
According to media reports, the Kozhikode Corporation is not renewing its contract for the maintenance of the EMS Corporation Stadium. The contract had not been renewed last year, either.
“It was after we wrote to the Chief Minister that we were able to play our matches at the stadium last season and we have already made the same request to him this year as well,” VC Praveen, Gokulam Kerala’s president was quoted as saying in a report in a leading newspaper.
With no Gokulam, it will be heart breaking for Football lovers to miss out on the Kerala giant.
