Kolkata: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has zeroed in on Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium for India’s FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifier Group E match against Qatar on March 26.
According to media reports, Kolkata, Kochi, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad were among other cities which wanted to host the qualifier match, but national team coach Igor Stimac picked the sports capital of the country Bhubaneswar as the venue.
“We have awarded the match to Bhubaneswar. This is a place which has promoted football and the coach also wanted to play here,” said AIFF general secretary Kushal Das.
However, many ISL coaches have expressed concern over the bad condition of the pitch at the Kalinga Stadium. AIFF general secretary Kushal Das assured that the Odisha government will certainly take measures to solve the problem.
India has secured just three points from the previous five matches and ranks fourth in Group E, just above the Bangladesh team.
