New Delhi, Aug 5 - The Delhi government's decision to host the Independence Day celebrations at the Ambedkar Stadium has forced the Nehru Cup organisers to defer the football tournament by a day and it will now start from Aug 19.

The orgnisers All India Football Federation (AIFF) and sponsors state-owned ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Commission) Wednesday decided to postpone the tournament by one day to get more time to prepare the ground for the 14th edition of the tournament. The final has also been pushed back by a day and has now been slated for Aug 31.

'We felt that pushing back the tournament by one day will give us more time to get the ground in shape. The government has informed us that they will try to clear the ground quickly after the programme,' a top AIFF official told IANS.

The Delhi government's decision to host the Independence Day celebrations at the Ambedkar Stadium has been termed unreasonable by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which owns the stadium.