Is Mumbai the hub for international football?

As Stephen Constantine’s side were trailing against Mauritius in the early stages of the game conceding an early goal, the crowd was cheering for the home team on Saturday when the Blue Tigers came back to defeat the Mauritian side 2-1 at the Mumbai Football Arena (MFA) located in Andheri. It was September 4 last year when Mumbai hosted an international football game after six long decades and now the venue is becoming the favoured playing destination for the men in blue.

The arena with a capacity of 20,000 is currently hosting the Hero tri-nation series in which India will be locking horns with Mauritius and St Kitts & Nevis. The series was supposed to be held in Chennai. All India Football Federation (AIFF) gave Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu a deadline of 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. The authorities in Mumbai were informed overnight about this series but there was no stress among the members of the organising committee. “We got a call in from AIFF around 10 where we learned that we have to host the series. Our team is always ready. The volunteers from MDFA, Mumbai City and other local members gathered in no time to make the necessary arrangements,” said Western India Football Association CEO Henry Menezes.

“Both of our grounds, Cooperage and Mumbai Football Arena, have top class pitches. We keep hosting regular tournaments for local teams so that both the facilities are utilised well. We organised a last moment practice session for St Kitts & Nevis team at Cooperage as well. On top of it, practice games for the Under-17 World Cup will be held at our venues. We are working our fingers to the bone to bring these stadiums on the map of international football. I am glad that we got the chance to host the tri-nation series,” he adds.

Mumbai Football Arena was the host to Mumbai City FC’s campaign in the previous season of Indian Super League (ISL) for the first time in three editions of the league. This is the first tri-nation series for the venue. The first game in which India faced Mauritius saw a slight drizzle in the initial stages, which was constant throughout. It happens many times in a football game that the pitch starts wearing out because of the rain, which was not the case on Saturday. “We were aware of the rain and it is never an issue. As soon as it stopped, it took us just an hour to bring it back to normal,” said Henry.

The authorities praise Aaditya Thackeray for his work as the core member of MDFA to take initiatives to not only make it a great experience for the players but also the fans and enthusiasts. Constantine hailed the fans for their enormous support in the game against Mauritius. He said, “The fans were amazing all along the game when we needed them the most. It is always great playing because the fans enjoy the game as much as the players which is lovely.” The Indian team will play St Kitts & Nevis on Thursday which will be the last match of the series.