On the overcast afternoon of August 18, a football match of the Mumbai Football Association’s Second Division League was underway at the Neville D’Souza Football Ground in Mumbai’s Bandra West neighbourhood. Players attacked the ball aggressively, rushing to score before the approaching half-time break.
As the game played out, in his office cabin, located on the ground, Sudhakar Rane, the association’s general secretary, struck a more placid note. “This is currently the only full-size functional football turf in the suburbs where professional football can be played in the city,” Rane said. “It is in a central location, so it’s easily accessible to players from across the city.”
Rane was responding to a proposal that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation put forward to its general body in late May, to change the “reservation” of the ground, or the specific function for which it was earmarked. The corporation proposed to turn the plot into a convention and exhibition centre.
The city’s football community has reacted with alarm at the proposal, and noted that there is already excess demand for the ground. Ajit Sawant, the assistant secretary of the association, explained that the season that began in May 2025 and was to end in May 2026 is still unfinished. “This...
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