Mumbai's Rs 250-cr stadium far from ready to host IBL tonight

At the inauguration of the refurbished Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in National Sports Club Of India NSCI earlier this month CM Prithviraj Chavan expressed relief that the 10yearlong wait for the facility was finally over calling the construction process an lsquoordealrsquo that lsquowent on and onrsquo But going by the condition of the stadium on the eve of the first match to be played there the ordeal is far from over While the venue is scheduled to host the inaugural match in the Mumbai leg of the prestigious Indian Badminton League IBL today the venue looked far from ready even yesterday The state of disarray was shocking for a venue that will host an international event that is aimed at taking badminton to a new level of excellence with top players like Lee Chong Wei Saina Nehwal PV Sindhu and P Kashyap in action Work in progress On the eve of the first match in Mumbaiu00a0of the Indian Badminton League at NSCI stadium complex Worli the venue is still not ready for the highprofile event PicShadab Khan Heaps of garbage greeted MiD DAY outside the venue Inside the situation was far worse the court on which the action will unfold at the Hyderabad Hotshots vs Pune Pistons tie still waiting to be laid and prepared The iron frames that are to be used for branding inside the courts were yet to be positioned Ironically it was hailed by Chavan as a lsquoworld class venuersquo and even better than Delhirsquos Siri Fort and Talkatora stadiums which host badminton squash and boxing events respectively This is by no means a stray incident A cursory look at recent history will show that the buildup to most sporting events in India have been marred by utter lack of preparation and of course controversy In 2010 it was the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi that attracted worldwide criticism Before the 2011 cricket World Cup there was anxiety and uncertainty over the completion of work at Wankhede Stadium which had been selected to host the finalu00a0 Picture lsquoperfectrsquo At Worli yesterday however organisers seemed confident that they would defy time and have everything in place on the hour of the match IBL coordinator and Mumbai Badminton Association MBA Secretary Sunder Shetty insisted there was ldquono problemrdquo and described the stadium as ldquoperfectrdquou00a0 Tall task at hand Sanket Shetty venue manager at the stadium yesterday PicJay Munagekar The facts he revealed however spoke of poor organization and belied his claims ldquoThere is no reason to worry There was a slight delay in laying the court Of the five kinds of tape used to put together the court only three had been sent in from Delhi We had to go in search for the same in Mumbai Also the garbage and other items lying outside the venue will be cleared by tonight Once the main court is ready everything will be cleared and set to stage the event tomorrowrdquo said Shetty Rs 250 crore Amount spent on renovating the stadium 10 years Time it took for the revamp August 3 2013 The day the stadium was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan 3150u00a0The seating capacity of the airconditioned stadium which can be expanded to fit in another 2500 persons The stadium was not ready to host the event Venue Manager At first venue manager Sanket Shetty echoed Shettyrsquos assurances ldquoThere is nothing to worry about We are working day and night to ensure that everything is ready for the tie tomorrow Over 24 hours remain for the matches to begin Such issues happen anywhere so Mumbai is not the only such venuerdquo he said adding ldquoAs there was a Chief Ministerrsquos Relief Fund event for Uttarakhand victims on August 15 the stadium was handed over to us only on August 16 The piles of garbage and other issues are small and wonrsquot take more than two to three hours to clearrdquo However Shetty soon contradicted himself admitting ldquoThe challenge for us was the fact that the stadium was not ready to host the event We had to get the cable wiring done telephone connections and WiFI facilitiesrdquo Great expectations The stadium was inaugurated amid much fanfare by Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde Union Minister for Heavy Industries Praful Patel state PWD and Tourism Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and CM Chavan on August 3 The stadium has a host of sporting event lined up in its calendar this year PicSameer Markande The stadium which used to host track cycling events earlier is now the only airconditioned indoor venue in the state that can host squash table tennis and wrestling as well After the IBL the SVPS will stage the World U19 Table Tennis Championships in September and the World Karate Championships in December when it will host participants from 45 nations Athletes speak I am really surprised that the venue is still not ready This shouldnrsquot have happened as it creates a bad impression Such things happen in most of the tournaments in India And it is the players who suffer in the end They donrsquot get to practice on the new courts I donrsquot understand why the organisers wait for the last minute to get things ready When will they get the courts ready After the match Mangirish Palekar former international player and coach at the Shuttlecraze Academy in Matunga Gymkhana I feel that the courts should have been ready at least one day in advance so that the players could practice on it before the actual match IBL is a big event for badminton and this shouldnrsquot have been the case I feel bad for the players It definitely hurts me as a player Everything related to IBL has been last minute so Irsquom not surprised that even the court and venue are not ready But they will make it ready on the day So letrsquos hope for the best Sagar Chopra former national player It is very sad on part of the organisers that they were unable to get the courts and the venue ready on time Itrsquos not that the city hasnrsquot hosted any big events before And IBL is not such a big event I feel that the venue should have been ready for the players to get a feel of it today I hope things go fine and no player faces any problems Leroy DrsquoSA seventime national doubles badminton champion Fans speak It is shocking that the authorities have failed to keep their promises It is because of such people that our country is still a lsquodeveloping country All this just creates a bad image of the country to the world Faisal Dayani Andheri resident How can one take an international league match so lightly This clearly indicates how the authorities take everything casually and have clearly had no respect for the game If you host a tournament you should make sure that you have all the amenities in good condition Otherwise why host it at all Avinash Marada Wadala resident If the stadium wasnrsquot completely ready the authorities should have selected some other venue to conduct the match in An international tournament cannot be taken lightly This is very irresponsible behaviour Amey Sawant Jogeshwari resident