Football
Pune's Balewadi stadium new home for Bengaluru FC
Bengaluru FC has enlisted Balewadi stadium in Pune as its home ground for the upcoming season.
Putting an end to matters leading to uncertainty over the unavailability of Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru FC has enlisted Balewadi stadium in Pune as its home ground for the upcoming season of Indian Super League (ISL) and AFC competition. The development comes at a time when Bengaluru FC’s tryst with the Kanteerava stadium came under threat as the reigning ISL champions looked for a possible move out of the city to either Pune or Ahmedabad.
In 2017, a group of athletes filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against Karnataka Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) and Jindal Steel Works (JSW), alleging that the club’s footballing activities had been hampering their training. The Karnataka High Court, in turn, directed the state government to conduct an inquiry into the matter and set a deadline till October 14 for the club to use the stadium. To meet the deadline without delay, the club was then forced to look for alternate venues for its home matches.
Bengaluru FC tweeted,
"The club is working closely with all stakeholders involved to find an amicable solution, and ensure that Bengaluru FC plays its home games out of the Sree Kanteerava stadium.”
With the AFC Cup approaching, Bengaluru FC was required to register a venue to host its home matches by September 15 and at least a month prior to their first home game on October 21 for ISL. In this situation, Pune’s Balewadi stadium and Ahmedabad TransStadia arena were the two options that the club had been eyeing on, in order to adhere to the All India Football Federation (AIFF)’s Club Licensing criteria.
