New Delhi: The 25th Senior Women's National Championships is currently being played in Arunachal Pradesh. The tournament kicked off on Tuesday with a total of 19 goals scored on Day 1. However, what has grabbed the maximum eyeballs was not the football on display, but the appalling ground conditions.
The two venues, Pasighat and CHF stadiums, were filled with water after rain and even after several hours, the pitches were waterlogged and provided some of the worst conditions to play a football match. Huge puddles formed all over, with the ball constantly getting stuck on the sodden pitch.
Karnataka player Tanvie Hans took to Twitter to post pictures of the CHF ground and expressed her displeasure on the conditions they were made to play in.
"We lost against Bihar yesterday, and I walked off in tears, not because of the loss, but because it was hardly a game of #football. The ground was flooded, and the ball was hardly moving. Heartbroken by the conditions we are being asked to play in. I would be, even if we won (sic)," she tweeted.
We lost against Bihar yesterday, and I walked off in tears, not because of the loss, but because it was hardly a game of #football. The ground was flooded, and the ball was hardly moving. Heart broken by the conditions we are being asked to play in. I would be, even if we won. pic.twitter.com/pSBmVdMj5d — Tanvie Hans (@TanvieHans) September 11, 2019
To give you a sense of the conditions, this is a video we came across, of the CHF stadium pitch. We're told Pasighat stadium is significantly better. We only have one question, how does a team train for this? pic.twitter.com/4AMEStxk8A — Women's Football India (@WomensFootieIND) September 11, 2019
On Day 1 of the tournament, Assam beat Arunachal Pradesh 9-0, Haryana lost 2-1 to Madhya Pradesh, Bihar defeated Karnataka 3-0 and Railways outclassed Mizoram 4-0.
Arunachal Pradesh Football Association (APFA) secretary Ajay Kipa said that the ground conditions were better on Wednesday with the sun coming out. "Ground conditions are alright now because the rain has stopped. Because of the rain, the ground was wet but with the sun coming out now, it is fine," Kipa told News18.com.
Kipa said that they had the motor to drain the water out of the ground but the rain was so incessant that they were helpless. He further said that with the rain stopping, the volunteers "took out the water with buckets" and the situation was an improved one now.
No complaints were raised to the APFA regarding the ground conditions, according to Kipa. "They are also supporting us because we can't challenge the nature right? We had done all the preparations but rain ruined it all."
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