New Delhi: The Jawaharal Nehru Stadium’s athletics track and football turf was damaged after the conclusion of Diljit Dosanjh’s two-day Dil-Luminati music concert on Sunday, leaving Punjab FC in a race against time to do patch work for their home Indian Super League game against Chennaiyin FC on October 31.
The Mohali-based side play their home games out of the JLN, having inked a two-year deal earlier this year with Sports Authority of India (SAI) after using it as base last season but are left with a significant repair job after after around 70,000 fans attended the concert over Saturday and Sunday (October 26, 27).
Photos obtained by News9 Sports show that apart from heaps of wasted food and alcohol bottles that were littered across the track, leaving stains on the track, the grass suffered decolourisation and left the surface uneven with squarish lines all over it.
A big stage had been erected over the playing turf on which around 3000 dancers danced, which was enough to damage the Bermuda grass as it was left waterless for several days.
It has Punjab FC with an uphill task of making the ground ready to host Chennaiyin on Diwali. They had raised their concerns through multiple meetings between SAI and Punjab FC have happened over the matter.
But no solution has been achieved that satisfied Punjab with SAI believed to have received Rs 2 crore fee from the concert organisers for the venue whose rent for non-sporting events is Rs 4,50,000 per day.
Punjab have informed their predicament to ISL organisers but had resigned to the idea of the turf getting damaged.
With nine points from four matches, Punjab are fourth in the ISL standings and hope the turf won’t be an impediment to maintain their impressive start to the campaign.
Athletes denied access
Punjab are now working overtime to make sufficient recovery in the intervening three days between the CFC game and conclusion of the concert on Sunday for smooth conduct of the match.
SAI had issued an office order to stop all work on the JLN premises on Saturday and Sunday, keeping in mind smooth conduct of the event, which denied access to athletes.
“This is where athletes train but here people had alcohol and partied. For this, the stadium was closed off until yesterday. Athletics equipment has been broken and thrown to the side,” former youth Asian 800m gold medallist Beant Singh said, while posting a video from the stadium on Instagram.
“The only athletes who come for sports practice in JLN are of the Come and Play scheme, which is for children who are just starting out. No Elite, junior or sub junior athletes train in JLN,” SAI said in statement to News9 Sports.
“There are no camps underway right now. No competing athletes of junior or senior train in JLN. So no training was hampered.”
“The contact of SAI with the organisers states that they will return the stadium to SAI in the same way that it was handed over to them. 70K people attended the concert over two days and the cleaning will take 24 hours. The stadium is expected to be cleaned up by the 29th,” it added.
Diljit Dosanjh’s two-day Dil-Luminati music concert at the JLN stadium has left Punjab FC in a race against time to do patch work on the ground for their home ISL game against Chennaiyin FC on October 31. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
