India vs South Africa: Two days left for Kanpur ODI but stadium still not booked

Kanpur: With two days to go for the first one-day international (ODI) between India and South Africa here, the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) is yet to officially book the Green Park Stadium for the October 11 match.

The regional Sports Officer Usha Lal has, in this regard, shot off a letter to the UPCA asking it to complete the formalities that involve depositing the booking fee of Rs 15 Lakh before the match – a mandatory pre-requisite mentioned in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that the UPCA had signed with the state government before it was given lease of the stadium.

“They (UPCA) have not even submitted a written application for booking the ground. We have requested them to complete the formalities,” an official said.

As per the MoU, UPCA is supposed to deposit Rs 1 crore annually against the lease and the booking fee at the time of the match. But UPCA, according to officials, has neither deposited the money against the lease nor the booking fee.

Officials alleged that UPCA has been avoiding fee payment ever since the MoU was signed. It had, they said, even written a letter to the state government in September asking in which account the money had to be transferred while it was clearly mentioned that the money had to be submitted into the state’s revenue department account. Besides, as per the agreement, 2800 out of 5000 seats in the stadium had to be kept reserved for sports department of the state and passes issued accordingly.

“We have not even received the passes for the 2800 seats,” the official said.

Under these circumstances, the official said, the state government can anytime lock the stadium considering flouting of MoU terms and conditions by the UPCA.

Both the teams – arriving in Kanpur on Friday evening – are scheduled to meet in the first ODI at the renovated Green Park stadium which is holding an international match after a gap of two years. As per the programme, the match would be inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik while Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav would distribute awards at the post-match presentation ceremony.