CHENNAI CITY FC fans finally have something to cheer about as they confirmed that the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium would continue to be their home ground for the rest of their I-League Campaign.
The only club from Tamil Nadu were granted a direct entry in this season's I-league, have had a torrid start this season. After three games, Chennai City are yet to win a match, with their last two matches ending in losses following a draw in their inaugural match. They, along with Minerva Punjab, are the only team who are yet to score in this I-League.
Amid such a poor start, there were ground complications for the debutants. They expressed shock over the exorbitant ground fee for the J.N Stadium. The Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu reportedly set the fees at an exorbitant Rs 3 lakh per match.
However, the club management had a meeting with the Tamil Nadu Sports minister yesterday and he was quoted
"The meeting went very well and we have agreed to give the stadium to them at subsidised rates. There was a certain aspect of maintaining parity with a comparable organisation which is more commercially oriented. But the sports secretary has agreed on a lesser fee, than they would have. At the same time, this is not a not for profit thing. We need to have a balance and the fee will be somewhere in between. But we are quite happy and tomorrow (Thursday) morning, they will reach an agreement.”
Chennai City owner Rohit Ramesh also confirmed that the row between the two bodies is over and that Chennai City FC will continue to host their home matches at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.