Ambala Cantt to get international-level soccer ground, all-weather pool

Nitish Sharma

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Tribune News Service

Ambala, December 14

Budding football players and swimmers all set to get an international standard football ground and a 10-lane all-weather swimming pool in Ambala Cantonment with the upgradation of the War Heroes Memorial Stadium in its last leg.

Will improve standard of game

The facility of an international-level football turf will definitely improve the standard of the game here and it will also save players from unwanted injuries due to uneven grounds. — Arun Kant, Former Deputy Drector, Sports

Will hold national, international-level games

Now, we have FIFA-approved turf and we will able to hold national and international-level games in the coming future. — BS Bindra, President of the Ambala football association

Pools to be handed over by dec 31

Pools have been tested and the PWD B&R Department will hand over these on December 31. In the absence of an all-weather pool, our professional swimmers used to go to other states for practice and spend lakhs of rupees. — Ram Sharma, Swimming Coach

An Olympic standard polyturf was laid in the stadium for football, it has been tested and certified by the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), while the pool has also been constructed as per the standards of FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation).

The upgradation project that started in April 2017 was to complete in April 2019, but due to the extension of work and the Covid pandemic, the project missed its deadlines several times. Now, the stadium is expected to be ready by January end next year.

Former Deputy Director, sports, Arun Kant, who was a football coach for 25 years, said “The facility of an international-level football turf will definitely improve the standard of game here, and it will also save players from unwanted injuries due to uneven grounds. A hostel has also been constructed for the players.” BS Bindra, president of the Ambala Football Association, said “Ambala has a glorious history in football, but due to the lack of facilities, the interest of players declined in Ambala. The issue was raised by Home Minister Anil Vij and he got the stadium upgraded. Now, we have FIFA-approved turf and we will able to hold national and international-level games in the coming future.”

While the stadium is being upgraded at a cost of Rs 115 crore, the all-weather pool along with a warm-up pool facility is coming at a cost of around Rs 38 crore.

Swimming coach Ram Sharma said, “Pools have been tested and the PWD B&R Department will hand over the pools on December 31. In the absence of an all-weather pool, our professional swimmers used to go to other states for practice and spend lakhs of rupees. Under the Khelo India Games, swimming and gymnastics competitions will be held here.” The Xen, PWD B&R, Nishant Silvania, said, “The stadium is being upgraded at a cost of Rs 115 crore to provide international-level sports facilities. The work of the central pavilion was extended that increased the work and cost too. The remaining work will be completed in one-and-a-half month.”