Guwahati became the fifth Indian city to be ratified as a venue for next year’s Under-17 football World Cup after a FIFA inspection team gave its thumbs up to the venue’s preparedness and facilities.
The FIFA delegation along with members of the Local Organising Committee visited the site and had a comprehensive look at the stadium and the training facilities.
Tournament Director of the LOC, Mr Javier Ceppi said, “We have a very good understanding with the newly elected State Government and that has certainly helped to push matters forward in Guwahati.”
“They realise the importance of hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 and have given us their complete support, which has had an immediate impact on the pace of work in the last 45 days. We also believe, as the State Government does, that this event will be critical in the Chief Minister’s vision of making Assam the sports hub of India.”
Also present at the press conference was Ajay Tiwari, Sports Secretary for the Government of Assam.
Pleased with the prospect of being one of the hosts for the big event, Tiwari said, “The state government has been putting in a lot of efforts to upgrade the stadium as well as the practice sites.”
Earlier, Kochi, Navi Mumbai, Goa and New Delhi had got the FIFA’s nod. The 23-member strong delegation will travel to Kolkata tomorrow to visit the last venue of its inspection trip and assess the situation in the capital of Bengal.
No comments:
Post a Comment