Kochi: The mega football carnival being hosted by the city got off to a great start on Saturday evening with soccer-crazy fans including women and children flooding the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium at Kaloor and cheering for the young Brazilian side in their Under-17 World Cup match against Spain. The renovated stadium was a sea of buttercup yellow though there was also support for the high-paced, smoothly-moving Spanish game. For a moment, it seemed like an ISL match between Kerala Blasters and Atletico de Kolkata. But the strict security measures restricting the seats to 29,000 and ban on materials like drums acted as a dampener in the otherwise electrifying atmosphere.
The fans could be seen rushing to buy yellow paint and paint their faces with the Brazilian flag colour just minutes before the match was to start. “We are die-hard fans of Brazil and it does not matter to us whether the junior team is playing. However, the Spanish boys put up a great fight. They focused on quick counter attack to the Tiki-Taka style adopted by the young Brazilian side which maintained possession for much of the game,” said Jomy Mathew, a shop owner at the Kottayam Market, who dropped in along with his friend Thomas Jacob. Earlier the crowd, nearly 24,000 spectators, as per official figures, cheered as the Brazilian players entered the ground, however, they were shocked into silence five minutes into the game when Spain went ahead by a goal.
But the celebrations by the few Spanish fans proved short-lived as the men in yellow restored parity and took the lead before the break and then sustained that lead to eventually win the game. However, there were some hiccups like the angry protest brawl by a group of spectators after no food materials including drinking water bottles were allowed inside the stadium. A food court stall was forced to be closed down with protestors accusing the organizers of overcharging them for beverages, the only thing available.
The legal meteorology department registered two cases for selling soft drinks priced at Rs 90 for Rs 300 at the venue of the football matches. The cases were charged invoking Rule 18 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 (PCR). “Though we could limit the action to a mere fine of Rs 2000 for the first time offence, we have decided to exercise our discretionary powers and initiate prosecution measures against the contractor concerned,” said R. Rammohan, Deputy Controller, Central Zone, Legal Metrology Department.
The department had deployed two squads led by Mr. Rammohan, including two assistant controllers and three senior inspectors, at the stadium.
Meanwhile, the Kochi Corporation councillors “returned” complimentary tickets allotted to them in an act of protest. “We have been given just 50 tickets though there are 74 councillors. Many felt insulted and the standing committee chairpersons decided not to attend the event for which we did all the spade work. However, we do not have any complaints but are disappointed,” said Deputy Mayor T J Vinod. Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) operated additional metro services through the day besides operating services till 11.45 pm unlike normal days when the last metro train is operated at 10 pm.
