Footballers, coaches protest BMC plan to turn Bandra's Neville D'Souza ground into convention centre
Hundreds of footballers, coaches, parents and supporters gathered at the Neville D'Souza Football Ground in Bandra on Sunday (August 23, 2026) to protest a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation proposal to convert the ground into a convention-cum-exhibition centre. Protesters said the redevelopment would remove one of the city's few accessible football grounds and affect thousands of players.
The demonstration took place as the BMC pushed to clear the proposal. Protesters said the ground, in use since 2018, is occupied by players ranging from young children to senior footballers for training, school tournaments and league matches. Several academies and clubs use the facility, with activity running from early morning until late at night.
“We have almost 14,000 people playing on this ground. Everyone from the ages of five onwards plays on this ground. School tournaments, league matches, and more happen here. It will be very sad if this ground is lost,” said Nigel Neville D'Souza, the son of the famous Indian footballer Neville D'Souza.
“In a week I coach more than 100-200 players from different age groups. I've been a part of this ground since its inception in 2018 and our club Mumbai Warriors FC played many matches here,” said Rajkumar Ashappa, head coach of Rafa Football Academy and Mumbai Warriors FC. He said officials had told football groups that an alternative ground would be provided, but that no details had been given on where or when it would be made available. “If anything India needs to develop in football, it is more grounds. Then we may have a chance to compete at the Asian Cup. If you take away the existing grounds, that is unacceptable and uncalled for,” he said.
Vishal Rathod, a senior coach with MSB Academy and the IOT club, said the uncertainty was already affecting planning for the next season. “Both the academy and the club I am a part of play a lot of matches on this ground. I have been coaching here for seven years. It doesn't make sense to change the ground into a convention centre,” he said. He also questioned the need for another convention facility in the area, pointing to the existing convention infrastructure around the ground.
Fifteen-year-old Waseem Yasin Khan, who plays in the second division of the BFC Neville Boys team, said: “This is a very wrong move. We have to think about the future, about where we will play. If there is no ground, then how can we play? There is no other ground nearby and if we can't play, then how will we make our career?” Another 15-year-old, Deep Harmalkar, who has played since the under-8 level, warned of longer travel for matches: “If this ground goes away, then we will have to travel really far to play our Division Two matches, and our parents won't allow us to go then,” he said.
The Mumbai Football Association opposed the proposal, with vice-president Nasir Hussain saying: “Mumbai hardly has any football grounds as it is. Every Indian dreams of a day when India will play in the World Cup. Our request to the government is that we need more grounds, but this ground itself is being sought after.” He added that matches at the ground begin as early as 6 a.m. and continue until late at night, and that many parents attended the protest because they wanted their children to spend time playing sport rather than remaining indoors. Former India goalkeeper and current goalkeeping coach Mohammed Yusuf Ansari joined the protest and said: “I am proud that I am an Indian player and a Maharashtrian player. But I feel deep regret for the young people. What is the future of these children if this ground goes away?” He also said, “All the young footballers are our future.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, who is also the president of the Mumbai Football Association, attended and criticised privatization of open spaces, saying: “The problem is not with installing sports facilities, the problem is privatising them, gatekeeping them and ensuring that money is taken out of Mumbaikars' pockets.” He added: “When Lionel Messi visited Mumbai, he was taken to a cricket stadium because neither Mumbai nor the State football associations were properly involved. It was reduced to a photo op,” and said: “The selected kids have been sent back to their regular schools instead of being enrolled in the project. Meanwhile, football grounds across Mumbai are being stripped away and turned into concrete structures.”
For protesters the immediate demand was simple: preserve the Neville D'Souza ground and provide more spaces for football rather than reducing the number of existing grounds. With academies, clubs and young players already planning their next season, the uncertainty over the ground's future has become a question not merely of one playing field, but of where Mumbai's next generation of footballers will train and compete.