New Delhi: Punjab FC will continue to play their Indian Super League home matches out of Delhi after agreeing to a fresh two-season deal for the Jawaharlal Lal Nehru Stadium.
Based in Mohali, Punjab won promotion from I-League to the top-flight ISL playing at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula. But as it didn’t comply with ISL specifications for venues, Punjab had to change their base to fulfill strict license criteria.
They chose the JLN stadium where the defunct Delhi Dynamos franchise had played till 2018-19 before it migrated to Bhubaneswar and morphed into Odisha FC.
After becoming the first team to qualify for ISL on sporting merit, Punjab finished eighth among 12 teams on debut (24 points from 12 games), claiming 12 points in 11 home matches (three wins, three draws and five losses).
Last season, the team used to train out of Mohali, where they have a sports academy, and travel a day before match to play at the JLN. They are expected to continue with that routine though a decision on it would be made later.
“Punjab have entered into a deal with the Sports Authority of India to play in JLN for the next two seasons (till the end of 2025-26 season). The duration of the rent tenure is from September to April,” a person aware of the development told News9 Sports.
The 2024-25 ISL will begin from September 13 with Mohammedan Sporting set to become the second I-League champions to gain promotion into the top-tier tournament.
As turning 12,000 seater Tau Devi Lal Stadium or Ludhiana’s 30,000 capacity Guru Nanak Stadium fit for ISL require investment of a huge amount of money, Punjab have found it feasible to use the ready-made resources of the 60,000 capacity JLN.
The cost of conducting an ISL match at JLN was around Rs 30 lakh last season.
New coach, new-look team
Punjab will sport a different look in the upcoming season with head coach Staikos Vergetis, who guided them to ISL from I-League, making way for fellow Greek Panagiotis Dilmperis. Sankarlal Chakraborty will continue as deputy, having donned the same hat under Vergetis.
With technical director Nikolaos Topoliatis caling the shots, they have extended contracts of five players, brought in nine and released 13.
Among the incoming lot, known faces are Princeton Rebello, Ninthoinganba Meetei and Vinit Rai while Slovenian striker Luka Majcen returns for his third consecutive year, having scored eight goals and set up two more last season.
They announced Argentine midfielder Norberto Ezequiel Vidal as their fifth overseas player, with the 29-year-old arriving from Indonesian club Persita Tangerang.
Punjab FC finished eighth among 12 teams on debut in ISL, claiming 12 points in 11 home matches at Delhi’s JLN stadium last season. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
