Football fans in Goa have just been handed
an absolute cracker of a festive gift. Come December 2015, and the year-end
festivities in the state will have an added dimension to them, with Goa set to
witness the nation’s biggest football finale. The much anticipated second
season of the Hero ISL scheduled to kick off on October 3, 2015 will begin with
the match between defending champions Atletico de Kolkata and Chennaiyin FC in
Chennai. The league stage will witness 56 games followed by a two-legged
knockout round, before culminating in Goa on December 20, 2015.
Retired international footballer Brahmanand
Sankhwalkar shares his views on Goa hosting the final, saying, “It is excellent
news for the state. Goa is always contributing a lot towards football and
getting to host the finale of the second edition of the Indian Super League is
like the icing on the cake. I am looking forward to the matches in Goa and I
hope that our team reaches the finals. We came close last year but let’s hope
we lift the cup this year in Goa.”
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However, while all is being seen through
rose-tinted lenses now, memories of last season’s ticketing fiasco still
linger. Having been the most poorly managed aspect for local fans in the first
edition of the country’s footballing centrepiece, fans have their fingers
crossed for greater transparency with passes the second time around. “The
initial stages were not too bad, as passes could be procured online. However,
as the tournament progressed, it became increasingly difficult to get passes,
and our initial game plan of buying them online was no longer an option. I hope
that lessons have been learnt from the last time around, and that a greater
number of passes is allotted to the general public, especially as the finals
will be a huge draw. However, the fact that Goa is a small community fuels this
issue as people tend to ‘help out friends and family’, which in this case means
giving out tickets to them,” says football fan, Candidio Sardinha.
With Goa’s love affair with football as a
sport having been well established in the country and the state being a hub of
footballing development (for the most part), one can’t help but eagerly await
December 20, as Christmas is set to come early for fans of the sport.
