Kolkata: The West Bengal government has asked All India Football Federation (AIFF) why the allotment of a 15-acre plot to build a national centre of excellence near Kolkata should not be cancelled.
After seven years, the centre that was supposed to be fully commissioned in three years is far from completion, a state government agency has told AIFF.
“… Non-utilisation of government allotted land within the prescribed period constitutes a violation of the terms and conditions of allotment as mentioned in the Deed of Lease and attracts action including cancellation of allotment…,” a show cause notice on May 13 from West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (HIDCO) said. A government of West Bengal undertaking, HIDCO gave AIFF seven days to reply in its letter signed by Subhas Sinha, general manager (commercial).
AIFF wrote back acknowledging the delay but has sought “a reasonable extension” after stating that several key components were operational and that over ₹33 crore has been spent on the project. This includes ₹16.66 crore from FIFA, ₹6.56 crore from Asian Football Confederation and over ₹10 crore by AIFF, the reply dated May 21 said.
The AIFF letter also pointed out that two pitches, one grass and the other artificial, have been used for training sessions by different India and Bengal teams, clubs in I-League and Indian Super League and the East Bengal team that won the Indian Women’s League.
AIFF attributed the delay due to the disruption caused by Covid-19 and other events before September 2022 when Kalyan Chaubey took charge as federation president.
FIFA suspending India from August 16 to August 27, 2022, the Supreme Court appointing a committee of administrators (CoA) in May to run the federation and mismanagement of the previous administration have been listed as causes for delay in AIFF’s reply signed by deputy secretary-general M Satyanarayan. HT has seen both letters.
CoA’s appointment in May 2022 to run AIFF “disrupted normal governance and delayed project-related decision-making processes,” the federation has said. Since AIFF’s previous administration under president Praful Patel was removed by the Supreme Court on “grounds of mismanagement and failure to implement governance measures,” the current administration “inherited the same” and had to conduct a “comprehensive internal review” and implement corrective measures, AIFF’s letter said.
The only reason cited for which none of the above was responsible was heavy rain between June to September every year. That left the plot “unfit for bearing installations that are crucial for foundation work,” according to the letter.
Football’s popularity in Kolkata and attendance figures in under-17 men’s World Cup led to the decision by the West Bengal government to allot the land parcel to AIFF. With over 12 lakh people at matches, the edition in 2017 became the most watched under-17 World Cup. Over 56,000 watched the final and Kolkata, which hosted 10 matches, had an average attendance of 54,212.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino had come for the final and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said he would be treated as a state guest. Two days after the final on October 28, the state cabinet approved the decision to allot 15 acres.
HIDCO’s letter to AIFF said that possession was handed over on June 21, 2018. The land parcel was given on “leasehold basis for 99 years at a token lease premium of Re 1 and a token annual lease rent of Re 1 for setting up a National Centre of Excellence in Football with a Football Stadium and Football Academy.”
As per the lease agreement, AIFF had six months to start construction and three years from the date to finish the project, according to HIDCO’s letter. “… It has been found in a recent inspection that no Football stadium has been constructed and it appears that the project is far from completion even after nearly seven years of delivery of possession,” the letter from HIDCO stated.
Most of the major issues have been resolved, AIFF has replied adding that it has awarded a contract to build another grass pitch specifically for youth and women’s teams. AIFF’s letter also mentions a 36-bed accommodation block which will help the federation plan “year-round residential training camps.”
Around $700,000 has been sanctioned for the accommodation block by AFC and work will start soon, Satyanarayan said over the phone from New Delhi on Tuesday. The block and the pitch are expected to be completed by December, 2025, said Satyanarayan who is also in charge of the centre.
“We take our obligations seriously and reiterate our full commitment to honour the conditions of the lease deed and the Allotment Letter by way of which the Allotted Plot was assigned to us,” AIFF has said.
Its letter requests that no “coercive action” is taken that may hinder AIFF’s continued use of the land for football activities. Sinha acknowledged receiving AIFF’s reply and said it has been sent to higher-ups in the government. “We have not been told of any action from the government as yet,” he said on Tuesday.