THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala will have a football club in the I-League for the first time since 2012 after the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) Bid Evaluation Committee, which met at the Football House in New Delhi on Wednesday, awarded the Sree Gokulam Group the right to field a team in the I-League from the upcoming season. Kerala were without representation in the domestic competition after Chirag United Kerala were relegated at the end of the 2011-12 season, but the Malappuram-based Kerala State Club Football Championship runners-up Gokulam FC will have a shot at the league albeit with a new name and possibly a new home.
“The AIFF have made it clear that we cannot have the title of the company as our club name. So we will have to find a new name,” said the team’s head coach and AFC Pro License holder Bino George. “They have also suggested holding our home matches in Kozhikode due to logistical reasons,” he added. Gokulam had submitted their bid with the Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium in Manjeri as their home. But with the work on floodlights yet to start at the venue and the town not having adequate facilities to accommodate the players and officials, it looks likely that the club will debut in the I-League at the EMS Corporation Stadium in Kozhikode, a one-and-a-halfhour drive from Manjeri.
It is also understood that the AIFF has demanded the company spend `10-15 crores within the next five years for the development of football as well as to start their residential academy in the state. The club will also be exempt from relegation in their first two seasons in the I-League. The assistant coach of the Viva Kerala and Chirag United sides during their I-League days, Bino now hopes that a new generation of footballers from Kerala will get national attention through the new I-League club.
“It has become difficult for Kerala players since we did not have a team in the top division. Now, this is going to change,” he said. “When I look at FC Goa and NorthEast United sides in the Indian Super League, I see players from the respective areas of the club. But Kerala Blasters have been a failure in this regard. Things are changing this season, but it still leaves a lot to be desired,” Bino said. “My aim is to compete in the I-League with a roster of Kerala footballers apart from the five foreigners who we will be signing in the coming weeks,” he said.
adwaidh@newindianexpress.com