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Other Football

The AFC Challenge Cup final between India and holders Tajikistan has been shifted to Delhi and will be played on Wednesday.

The decision was taken on Saturday after the playing surface at the Gachibowli stadium deteriorated because of heavy rains that lashed the southern Indian city of Hyderabad for the last eight days.

India's last group match against Turkmenistan and the semifinal against Myanmar were played virtually on a paddy field, with mud and pools of water all over the ground.

That prompted Myanmar coach Marcos Antonio Falopa to comment that their semifinal match against India was like a rugby game.

The organisers were left with three options at their disposal. The first to play the match as scheduled at the Gachibowli Stadium or Lal Bahadur Stadium here. The second option was to shift the venue to another city and play within a week. The last option was to postpone the game for a month or two.

A final inspection was done in the evening, following which it was decided to shift the match to the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi.

The decision would come as a shot in the arm for the Indian team, who had won the Nehru Cup finals at the same venue. One, however, just hopes that the rain gods that have lashed the capital city for the last couple of days stay away for football's sake.