Newly elected president of Assam Football Association, Naba Kumar Doley, on Tuesday said that he would request chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to help upgrade the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati.
Taking charge of the association, Assam Panchayat and Rural Development minister Doley also hinted that a full-fledged football academy is also in their plan.
“We will request chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal so that we can upgrade the facilities at the Nehru Stadium. As it’s one of the oldest stadiums, we want it to be developed,” Doley said.
Nehru Stadium, situated at Ulubari, is one of the oldest multi-purpose stadiums. It has hosted at least 13 ODIs, countess first class cricket matches including Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Ranji Trophy matches. It has also hosted high profile Bordoloi Trophy football matches where famous clubs of India and some other countries have played.
But for the last several years, no sporting activities have taken place in the stadium.
“We want to develop the plot of land measuring 12 bigha which is in AFA’s name into a centre where the players get all the facilities. Apart from the five men’s and four women’s events in a year, we are also planning to introduce new events. We will try to organize these events in time,” said the minister.
Doley also felicitated the players of Assam team which will participate in the final round of the 73rdSantosh Trophy which starts from April 8 in Ludhiana, Punjab.
Hemendra Nath Brahma, the newly elected secretary said that they are also planning to engage former players in every district for coaching at the grassroots.
“We need to spot the talents from the rural areas from various places of the state,” said Brahma.
Brahma will also participate in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Congress, 2019 to be held in Kuala Lumpur.
