‘Unfounded rumours’: UPCA ignores safety concerns for fans, says Kanpur’s Green Park ready for India vs Bangladesh

The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) on Thursday denied there were any safety concerns for fans attending the second Test between India and Bangladesh on Friday, responding to reports that the C Stand at Green Park was deemed unsuitable to accommodate spectator loads .

However, after inspection by the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) and experts from Harcourt Butler Technical University in Kanpur, the number of seats in the C-balcony has reduced.

“These are all baseless rumors that there is a safety issue for fans. From the capacity of 10,000 fans in the balcony, we have been asked to reduce the seating capacity to 7,200 and we are not selling tickets for the remaining 2,800 seats,” Sanjay Kapoor, director of UPCA, said on Thursday.

“We then managed to increase the number of seats for fans by almost 6,000 compared to the last match and now we have around 26,000 seats. UPCA has taken all possible measures to ensure the safety of the fans; We have also ensured that 3,000 school children can watch the match every day,” said Kapoor.

He also said there was no problem with the spotlights. “The floodlights are working properly, everything is well controlled and we are even prepared for the bad weather conditions here,” Kapoor added.

The stadium, which was established in 1945 and hosted the first-ever Test between India and England in 1952, has hosted 23 Tests so far. The previous capacity was 32,000, but as the stadium was renovated over the years, the number of seats has decreased.

“We are leaving no stone unturned to make this Test a grand success,” said Kapoor, who is also the former chief of the All India Chess Federation (AICF).