Correspondent
PASIGHAT, Sep 11: The 25th Senior National Football Championship being held in Pasighat in East Siang district is in trouble two days into the tournament because of flooded grounds.
While the authorities have blamed it on the rain, the lack of preparedness by the All India Football Federation and the Arunachal Pradesh Football Federation is in full display.
The players were seen struggling to keep balance and get a foothold on extremely slippery grounds, slipping down into puddles of muddy water while running and possessing the ball, during the inaugural match played in the newly constructed stadium.
The condition of the ground is not only greatly affecting the teams’ performances but also posing injury threats to the players.
Many teams have cried foul at the allegedly ‘poorly developed playgrounds,’ and blamed it for their under-performance.
Tanvie Hans of Karnataka team in her tweet summed it up.
“We lost against Bihar yesterday, and I walked off in tears, not because of the loss, but because it was hardly a game of #football. The ground was flooded, and the ball was hardly moving. Heart broken by the conditions we are being asked to play in. I would be, even if we won.”
Kerala thump Chandigarh 8-0
Meanwhile on the second day, Kerala opened their Senior National Football Championship with a thumping 8-0 win over Chandigarh.
Five matches were played on day-2 of the championship.
Goa also notched up a 7-1 win against Uttar Pradesh while Tamil Nadu beat Chhattisgarh 5-0.
Himachal Pradesh beat Delhi 4-1 and Odisha beat Pondicherry 4-0.
Host Arunachal Pradesh will play their first match against Telangana at the College of Horticulture and Forestry playground on Thursday at 3 pm.
