Navi Mumbai sets the benchmark for preparations of the four U-17 WC venues inspected

LESS THAN 200 DAYS TO GO for India’s biggest footballing to the world of football and the ongoing FIFA inspections don’t paint a pretty picture for the world or even the nation itself. Four venues already inspected of which the FIFA officials are just pleased with the just one venue.
Earlier the New Delhi inspection report recommended the Indian authorities to work at a “stronger pace” to get things completed. The delegation moved to Goa and were not very keen to nominated the venue due to the low attendance in the last AFC  Under 16 tournament. Although, they did not put down any preparations efforts but Javier Ceppi stated,

“On the infrastructure front, things are almost ready but we now need to go into the finer details of all the operation plans such as security, transport, health, promotions etc. We will keep working with the authorities of the state government just as we have done for the past two and a half years to make sure that all the responsibilities for the state are complied with."

After the inspection of Kochi, the delegation was clearly unhappy with the under preparation of the stadium and said,
Fifa head of events, Jaime Yarza, used some strong words after inspecting the main ground,ad of events Jamie Yarza feels it will be a shame if the authorities fail to renovate the Kochi stadium. AFP

"The venue has a very strong football culture and it would be a matter of great shame if we don't manage to fulfil the requirements in time."

"It's unfortunate, the state that JNI Stadium in Kochi is in currently, needless to say if we want the ground to play host to a World Cup, we need the authorities to step up now,"

After being disappointed with the preparation of New Delhi, Goa and Kochi, the FIFA delegation now visited Navi Mumbai today and this time they were finally pleased with the efforts put in and stated they were very satisfied.
Yarza commented,

“We are very impressed by the stadium here – the efforts put in by Dr. Vijay Patil and his team are exemplary and that will show when the World Cup happens here in less than 200 days time.”

Javier Ceppi seconded the positive remark by Yarza and added,

“It is always a pleasure to come back to Navi Mumbai. The team at the DY Patil Stadium keeps setting the highest benchmark. Even though the DY Patil Stadium has met all our requirements, they keep trying to make their facility even better.”

He went on to say,

“We are sure that all the people from Maharashtra will be very proud about DY Patil hosting the World Cup and will come down in numbers to watch all the matches. We’re also appreciative of Navi Mumbai Sports Association as their training ground is practically completed and will be among the best ones in the country, and we are thankful of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, as they will develop the Yashwantrao Chavan Maidan ground to be the fourth training site in the city,”

So Navi Mumbai preparations are closest to being called complete among the four venues visited by FIFA officials but again Navi Mumbai will host a music concert in the month of May. FIFA may have to inspect the state of the ground after that event is over in order to still rate the venue as the benchmark for other venues.

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