Mumbai: Iconic centre KSA seeks Uddhav Thackeray's permission to open

The Karnatak Sporting Association KSA has sent a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray urging him to open up the Karnatak Sports Centre ground for cricket football volleyball and kabaddi played regularly at their Cross Maidan venueThe succinct letter dated October 14 stated that officials acknowledged the governments work but this was a humble request for opening up the centre to resume sporting activities Officials assured that necessary precautions will be takenJoint Hon Secretary Jaya A Shetty said I have received an acknowledgement for the letter but there is no reply as yet We have sporting facilities and teams usually have practise sessions Some tournament matches are played at the ground We think practise sessions should be allowed to start at leastKSA Caretaker Ranjit Pradhan PicsSuresh KarkeraOutdoor activitiesShetty said that their request was logical as in the present situation People are not maintaining social distance outside too We will follow all Standard Operating Procedures These are outdoors sports and fitness can only build immunity So we do have strong reasons for our case The KSA officials said the ground closed in March but the staff had been paid till now The grass which had grown really tall has been cut and cricket pitches have been rolled Our groundsmen cleaning staff have been paid in full and earlier our friends had donated grains too said Shetty who is also a Shiv Chhatrapati awardee and had organised the 2004 World Cup of kabaddi in Wadala where 12 countries had participatedPractise pleaseRavi Anchan KSA vicepresident stated We give out this ground to schools In the morning we give it to banks for their teams to play We were hopeful of some permissions post Diwali but we are now reading some reports that predict Coronavirus may increase in December so that is a little worrying In fact we should be allowed to open for practice sessions if not full tournaments The government has allowed gyms to open and that is indoor fitness This will be outdoor activities which we know are much safer so we must see some acknowledgement of it Officials claimed that the 92 yearold centre has been maintained despite all challengesRisky routeHowever Souter Vaz vicepresident of Mumbai District Football Association said Team games will have high risks We may argue that internationally cricket and football are being played but let us remember that there is a huge difference between the infrastructure the elite athletes have and what is provided for locals to practice In the case of the former leagues players are housed together in topclass hotels They are not allowed to go out or mingle with outsiders after matches There are regular checkups Here even if permission is given to practise matches there will still be a team where one player may come from Bhayandar the other from Bandra How do you control all this They may get together after the game go back home return the next day to play having met so many people on the way This is extremely risky Vaz claimed individual training like jogging or exercises were relatively safer and opening up for team games was taking a huge and currently unnecessary chanceKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news