International football back to Mumbai

The Indian football national team will start assembling in Mumbai from Friday for the fifth time inside a year. The Stephen Constantine-coached side will take on Saint Kitts and Mauritius in the tri-nation tournament at Mumbai Football Arena in Andheri Sports Complex. A total of three matches will be played on August 19, 22 and 24. Host India is set to feature in two matches.

“Yesterday we got the information from All India Football Federation and we are ready to host it. The ground is in top condition despite the monsoon as it has excellent drainage system,” said Western India Football Association CEO Henry Menezes.

“The Indian team will start assembling in Mumbai from Friday. The tickets sale will also be open on Friday and we expect 7,000-8,000 people coming up to witness the matches in Mumbai,” he added.

Mumbai hosted its first International football game after 61 years last September against then higher ranked Puerto Rico and hosted another international friendly against lower ranked Nepal this June. India beat Puerto Rico 4-1 and Nepal 2-0. The city also hosted four national camps of the national team in one year.

This will be first time the city will be hosting a multi-nation football tournament. The tournament was set to be hosted by Chennai but reportedly Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu was given until August 9 to get the necessary clearances, failure of which would mean AIFF having to change the venue to operate their logistics. Mumbai and Bengaluru were kept as the backup options.

But since Bengaluru’s Kanteerva Stadium will be hosting Bengaluru FC’s AFC Cup inter-zonal semi-final game against North Korean side April 25 Sports Club on August 23, the tournament was eventually shifted to Mumbai.

The tournament was initially planned as a four-nation Champion Cup as a replacement to Nehru Cup last held in 2012, but Afghanistan’s withdrawal initially meant the tournament became a tri-series.

This competition will give an opportunity to high flying India who is currently 96 in Fifa rankings to prepare for their AFC Asian Cup qualifier match against Macau on September 5. India, who have improved vastly in Fifa rakings in last year, are currently at the top of the group A after they defeated Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan Republic with similar score lines of 1-0.

Newly appointed Mumbai District Football Association chairman Aaditya Thackeray appealed to Mumbai fans to turn out in numbers to support the Indian team again in a series of tweets on Thursday.

“I’m sure football fans in Mumbai have read, for those yet to, the Mumbai Football Arena will host the tri-nation tournament next week,” he wrote.

“India will play Mauritius & St. Kitts at Mumbai Football Arena. Tickets will go live this week! Look fwd to see loads of football fans. It’s exciting that MFA will host the series. Mumbai fans will witness 3 intl games! Hope to see fans from across India for Indian Football team,” he further wrote.