Rain plays spoilsport again

As the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium remained waterlogged for the second day due to incessant rains, both the quarterfinal league matches in the 60th national football championship for Santosh Trophy were postponed.

The date and venue of both the matches --Uttar Pradesh vs Delhi and Maharashtra vs Bengal-- would be decided on Monday after another round of inspection and meeting, a Kerala Football Association spokesman said.

Match Commissioner M N G Neogi, along with other officials, inspected the conditions and decided to defer the matches with the ground remaining almost flooded due to heavy showers.

The organisers, however, hoped that the two matches would be played in time as scheduled on Monday.

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Karnataka will meet Tamil Nadu in group III, while Assam will take on formidable Goa in a group IV match.

Following the rains lashing the city since Saturday morning and the matches played in a waterlogged ground, the conditions deteriorated further.

The organisers are also seriously considering shifting of the quarterfinal league matches to other venues, so that the stadium could be ready for the semi-finals and the final.

Incidentally, when Kerala was allotted the event last year also, the Kerala Football Association expressed inability citing the possibility of disruption due to rains.