Delhi stadium ‘90-95 percent ready’ to host FIFA U-17 WC, says Ceppi

The tournament director expects a ‘bigger boom’ in ticket sales in the national capital.

Javier Ceppi (centre) and Joy Bhattacharjya (right) at a press conference in New Delhi on Friday.

The Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi is “90-95 percent” ready to host FIFA U-17 World Cup matches, according to tournament director Javier Ceppi.

“There’s a lot of work happened at the stadium, some great work. The stadium is 90-95 percent ready. The fans need to be more enthusiastic, the ticket sales have definitely boomed, but by the standard we have seen in Kolkata, Guwahati and Kochi, we expect a bigger boom,” said Ceppi.

The 58,000-seater stadium will host India’s group games against the U.S., Columbia and Ghana in October.

Joy Bhattacharjya, the project director of the Local Organising Committee, elaborated on the promotional plans to make the event, the first FIFA event hosted and played by India, a success. “Besides the nationwide ‘Mission 11 Million’ programme, we are coming up with a ‘Trophy Experience Tour’ for the fans, which will help the fans get closer to the official winner’s trophy of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup,” Bhattacharjya said.