THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium which once hosted several national and international sports events was in a state of neglect for the past decade. But with the 35th National Games, the stadium is set to regain its past glory and establish itself once again as one of the best sports facilities in the state.
The Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium, better known as the Police Stadium, situated in the heart of the city, has been picked as the warm-up venue for athletics competitions in the National Games.
It has been one of the most well-known stadiums in the state for over half a millennium since its opening in 1956 by the then Kerala Governor B Ramakrishna Rao. During the last few years, it hosted entertainment programmes and exhibitions, making it unfit for any sporting activity.
The stadium now has a new field of play, a synthetic athletics track around it and a renovated gallery that can seat around 20,000 fans, paving way for bringing in lots of sporting action to the city in the near future.
The stadium has in the past hosted several high-profile football tournaments like the Nehru Cup in 1986 and 1991, won by the Soviet Union and Romania respectively, the 1987 National Games football tournament, Santosh Trophy zonal matches and the National Football League matches more recently.
Gabriel E Joseph, former All-India Football Federation coaching director and Indian assistant coach, said that the stadium will now be able to host football matches like the Santosh Trophy, I-League and other national tournaments.
“But the important thing will be to maintain the stadium once the National Games is over. The government intends to create a new generation of sportspersons with the Games, but for that to become reality, the new facilities have to be maintained for at least next 20 years,” said Joseph.
“The stadium is owned by the Kerala Police and the government must ask them to maintain the stadium properly and make it available for the sports associations to host tournaments and for practice at moderate rates,” the coach added.
Meanwhile, S Geevarghese, secretary of the Thiruvananthapuram District Football Association, said that the G V Raja International Football Tournament 2015 featuring international clubs could be hosted at the stadium in May this year.
With the proximity of the renovated University Stadium an advantage, the stadiums will have improved chances of hosting sports events in the coming years if its owners, the Kerala Police and University of Kerala, give these facilities the attention they deserve.