AGARTALA: The central government has released Rs 20 crore as special assistance for infrastructure development related to football in Tripura.
With the allocated funds, a total of four football stadiums located in different parts of the states will be upgraded with synthetic coating, Tripura Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said.
“You will be glad to know that Rs 20 crore has been sanctioned as special assistance for the upgradation of the football fields. Astroturf synthetic coating is being done in these fields which means, look and feel wise, the stadiums will be akin to international soccer stadiums”, said Chowdhury.
According to Tripura Footballs Association sources, Tripura has tremendous potential to produce good football players but due to lack of infrastructure, the players did not get the desired platforms.
“All the big tournaments are played in astroturf coated fields. On the other hand, players of Tripura have little experience of playing in synthetic fields. It needs a lot of dribbling experience in these fields otherwise playing becomes very tough no matter how skilled the footballer is”, said a senior footballer of the state.
So far two fields are on the verge of completion with newly upgraded facilities.
“The Kakraban field is complete with the synthetic coating while the Khowai school field is being given the final touch. Umakanta Academy field will also be improved with the new facilities very soon”, said sources.
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The sports and youth affairs minister also informed the media that apart from that 20 crores, the government of India under the “Khelo India” scheme sponsored a lot of projects.
“A swimming pool is on the verge of completion at Pani Sagar. Rs 5 crore sanctioned for open gyms in various places of the state. Due to the Covid 19 induced financial crunch, we are going a bit slow, but many projects will be completed within the next three to four months”, said the minister.