FIFA Under-17 WC to be held from Oct 6 to 28

A 26-member team, comprising a 13-member FIFA delegation, visited the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangana and other facilities around the city before giving its nod of approval.

The FIFA Under-17 World Cup logo.

A FIFA delegation on Tuesday announced that the under-17 World Cup would be held from October 6 to 28, 2017 and ratified Kolkata as the sixth and last venue of the event.

A 26-member team, comprising a 13-member FIFA delegation, visited the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangana and other facilities around the city before giving its nod of approval.

 

West Bengal Sports Minister Arup Biswas said majority of the work had been done and the stadium, with about a capacity of one lakh and having two practice pitches, would be ready in time. “Around 75 to 80 of work had been done and our target is to finish all the work by January 31,” said Biswas.

Announcing the ratification for Kolkata, FIFA competition department lead Marion Mayer-Vorfelder said massive work had been completed in the last few months. “There is impressive improvement since February. The stadium here has the potential to become the best in the country and (one of the finest) internationally if the work is done,” she said.

Kolkata also has two practice pitches at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centre.

Marion said the FIFA Council had ratified the dates of the competition. The draw of the tournament would be held on July 7 next year.

Tournament Director Javier Ceppi said despite impediments due to harsh summer and monsoon seasons a lot of improvement could be seen. “The work done despite weather constraints is a miracle. After the work is finished FIFA will have a final assessment around February and March. Everything should be completed by then.”

Cepi, who visits all venues once in every month, said the ratification of venues would be upheld only if the remaining work at different stadia were completed within the deadline. “The ratification does not give you a blank cheque. The progress will be assessed periodically.”

The FIFA team had earlier ratified Kochi, Navi Mumbai, Goa, Delhi and Guwahati as venues for the mega event.

A casual glance at the stadium here tells that installation of bucket seats in the upper tier, several repair and renovation work and beautification of the complex are yet to be done.