Athletes knock on Karnataka High Court's door over Kanteerava use

Bengaluru, December 5: The athletics fraternity of the city, including Bangalore Urban District Athletics Association chief and Arjuna Awardee Ashwin Nachappa, moved the Karnataka High Court on Monday (December 4) over the unavailability of the synthetic track of the Sree Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium for training.

About 50 athletes and coaches filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and asked the Karnataka HC to cancel the agreement signed between the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES), the custodians of the stadium, and JSW-Bengaluru FC, a football club which plays its home matches at the venue. The two parties entered into a deal in 2013 for the promotion of football and renewed the deal in 2017.

In the PIL, the petitioners said they were denied entry to the stadium by JSW-Bengaluru FC for training. They alleged that the club put up barricades in the 400m synthetic track surrounding the football pitch. They also sought directions to facilitate athletes to train daily at the stadium.

The division bench of acting Chief Justice H G Ramesh and Justice P S Dinesh Kumar issued a notice to the state government over the petition. The court also issued a notice to JSW-Bengaluru FC.