Kochi: Legendary Indian footballer I.M. Vijayan was on Sunday felt insulted when the Indian Super League (ISL) organisers offered him just two ordinary tickets for the final match at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. However, actor Nivin Pauly, ambassador of the Kerala Blasters, saved organisers from further embarrassment when he took the former Indian player to the stadium via the VVIP entry gate.
"I felt insulted because I was given gallery pass for the match… But then Nivin (Pauly) told me he'll take me along through the VVIP area and I decided to go with him," Vijayan told DC just before the start of the match. Earlier in the day, with him getting only ordinary tickets, Vijayan went to the Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) team hotel along with former East Bengal defender M. Suresh and got VVIP tickets from the rival camp.
"I met officials from East Bengal and Mohun Bagan who had arrived in the city for the match. When I told them about the way I was treated they offered me a VVIP ticket right away," he said. "It is disappointing because you don't expect such things in your home state. I'm sure that if this final was in Kolkata I would never even feel the need to ask for a ticket to watch the match," said Vijayan, the first player to win 'Indian Player of the year' award multiple times (1993, 1997, 1999).
