File picture of the artificial turf at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Shillong

Shillong, Dec. 19: The artificial football pitch at Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex (JNSC), Polo, will be ready by January 10, going by the assurance given by the company that will supervise the laying of the turf.

Earlier this month, the Meghalaya government said no more extensions would be given for the completion of the pitch.

The construction of the Rs 5.13-crore pitch commenced in July this year.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Amit Agarwal of Decor India, which is a dealer of artificial turf of US-based firm Field Turf for Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, said, “We are awaiting the completion of the base work of the field. Once that is ready, we will inspect the ground before laying the artificial turf.”

According to him, the turf landed in the city around 15 days ago.

“I think we will be arriving in the city next week to undertake an inspection of the base work before we lay the artificial turf,” Agarwal said.

Moreover, renovation of the players’ dressing room and the media gallery at the JNSC is still on.

In June this year, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competition director Tokuaki Suzuki declared that JNSC was “unplayable”.

The four-member inspection team had asked the authorities to improve the ground conditions and other infrastructure requirements to meet AFC’s strict licensing criteria.

According to the AFC team, the stadium lacked facilities for live telecast, suitable dressing rooms, a medical room, doping test centre, separate VIP stands and a press box.

The delays in readying the necessary infrastructure, including laying the artificial turf, made Shillong Lajong FC miss out on its home matches. The club had to make Imphal and Guwahati its home venues. However, if the turf is completed by January 10 and if the other requisite infrastructure is ready, the people of this state would be able to witness the January 17 home clash between Lajong and Churchill Brothers SC.