Indian Super Cup: Now in Gurgaon

The Indian football season proper is finally set to kick-off with the Indian Super Cup to be played on Wednesday, December 1. But the AIFF has been forced to change the venue. As the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi won't be available the match has been shifted to the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in the Ch. Devi Lal Sports Complex in Sector 38, Gurgaon. The match will see I-League champions Dempo Sports Club from Goa taking on Kolkata's East Bengal Club, who only recently had been crowned Federation Cup champions.

And the reason why the Ambedkar Stadium isn't available? It is due to the fact that the stadium is booked and blocked for the Subroto Mukherjee Cup, India's national school football championship in the under-17 and under-14 age groups.

And it once more shows the lack of grading of importance to matches and tournaments. I feel somehow the AIFF and the Subroto Mukherjee Cup organisers should have been able to work out a formula to allow the Super Cup match to take place in Delhi on December 1. I also feel for the young boys playing in the Subroto Mukherjee Cup it would have been a nice experience to see such a top level match.

With the Subroto Mukherjee Cup set to continue for some time, the AIFF XI (India Under-20) team will have to play their I-League home matches in December 2010 in Gurgaon too. I am sure Desmond Bulpin wouldn't be happy about it.