BENGALURU FC HAVE BEEN FORCED to register Pune's Balewadi Stadium as their home ground for the next season while they continue to struggle to resolve the issues that has put their continued usage of Bengaluru's Sree Kanteerava Stadium in jeopardy.
After playing their first season in the I-League based out of the Bangalore Football Stadium, Bengaluru FC moved to the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in 2014-15 due to its bigger capacity and better facilities, including floodlights. The football-cum-athletics multipurpose stadium continued to play host as the club established itself as one of the key institutions in Indian football.
But now, the club's contract with Karnataka Athletic Association to use the stadium is in danger of not being renewed. Certain sections of the local sports bureaucracy has been vocal against BFC's presence in the stadium for a few years now, claiming their presence is a hindrance for local athletes who use the stadium's and its surrounding areas as facilities for daily practice as well as competitive events.
In fact, there have been occasions when local athletic events have clashed with Bengalur FC's match schedules, leading to prolonged drama and uncertainty. But BFC have almost always managed to carry out their matchday operations smoothly in the stadium, but now they face the threat of losing the stadium where they have tasted most of their success.
On Monday CEO Parth Jindal tweeted his concern that the club may have to move out of the city due to the Kanteerava Stadium deadlock, but insisted they were trying to solve the issue.
Today, the club revealed that in order to meet the deadline of AIFF Club Licensing registration they were registering Pune's Balewadi Stadium - currently without a home team since Pune City withdrew from the ISL - as their home ground, but were still trying to make sure the club remains at Kanteerava.
With the BFC's first home game of the new season scheduled for 21st October, the club has less than 5 weeks to resolve this crisis, or they will be forced to play away from their home city and the fanbase they have worked hard to build over the last 6 years.
BFC won the Indian Super League 2018-19, which earned them a spot in the AFC Cup 2020 Qualifiers. The club's return to Asian competition makes playing at their traditional home ground of further importance. The support provided by local fans, led by the West Block Blues, has been critical for BFC as they took on clubs from across the continent. All their continental home matches till date have been played at the Kanteerava Stadium, and it's from that same arena that they became the first Indian club to reach the final of the AFC Cup.
The other Indian club in Asia this season, I-League champions Chennai City FC, are also living in exile from their home city, playing their home matches out of Coimbatore. They are set to adopt Ahmedabad's TransStadia as a temporary home for their home matches in the AFC Champions League Qualfiers and possible subsequent AFC Cup games.
Last season, Minerva Punjab FC and Chennaiyin FC represented Indian football at the Asian stage and both clubs had to play away from their home cities due to complications with stadiums. Neither club managed to clear the go past the group stage, marking 2019 as one of the worst years Indian clubs have had in Asia over the last decade.
If BFC are unable to obtain the rights to play at Kanteerava, India will send up two exiled clubs to Asia for the second year in a row.
As the club continues to try to untie the bureaucratic knot, support has poured in for them from all quarters of the football community, be it fans or players.
A change.org petition has also been started requesting the state and central government to help them out in this matter.