FIFA officials feel Under 17 World Cup preparation must pick up pace

MONTHS AWAY FROM THE HOSTING OF THE BIGGEST footballing event in the country and the preparations are not looking ideal. The officials were in India this week and are not in the best mood seeing the pace at which things are moving towards gearing up for the massive event for the growth of India's football.

FIFA began a seven-day inspection tour and after the inspection the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi, a press conference was held in New Delhi with the FIFA inspection delegation, members from the tournament's Local Organising Committee, Inder Dhamija, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Sanjiv Baranwal, Director (Infra) Sports Authority of India.

FIFA Head of Tournaments Jaime Yarza, said after the inspection of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi,

“FIFA is aware (of the problem). We are concerned. We have our doctors, we have a very big medical department and they are monitoring all the issues. We know it’s a concern, and after Diwali a bigger concern,” Yarza said. “So we will have doctors from India, who work with FIFA. They will give their conclusions and deliberations very soon. When we have it and know better the influence that pollution might have on young athletes, we will be in a better state (to decide match allocation).”

Tournament director, LOC, Javier Ceppi shared about Delhi still be considered as being one of the potential venues of the knockout stages. There were earlier reports that Delhi, owing to the air pollution post Diwali time, might be able to chosen as the venue in the latter stages of the tournament. Ceppi stated further,

“According to the data we have from the Central Pollution Control Board, the air quality is decent during the first two weeks of October, pre-Diwali. We all live in Delhi and know what happens post-Diwali. So that’s what we are analysing and are working closely with the government and Central Pollution Control Board.”

Yarza said it was time that the prepartions pick up pace as the tournament dates near and further stated,

“There has been improvement, work has been done. (But) it’s important to know we don’t have much time. There’s a lot of improvement needed and work to be done here in Delhi. I encourage all the authorities to… maybe work with stronger pace and deliver what is required at a FIFA world cup,”

Maintaining positivity and yet showing that not a lot of time was at hand, Yarza put forward his concern saying,

“It should have been ready by now but there have been some delays. In any case, it was a demanding deadline and we understand that. There is a lot of work being done and there will be a lot of more work in the future. They just need to speed up a little more. Everything will be alright.”

The six venues of the FIFA Under 17 World Cup to be held in India from October 6 to 28 this year are

• New Delhi
• Kochi
• Mumbai
• Guwhati
• Kolkata
• Goa

Next venue on the inspection list of the FIFA officials is Goa.