U-17 WC: FIFA urges to speed up preparation work

NEW DELHI: FIFA’s inspection team on Wednesday sounded fairly satisfied over the progress at JN Stadium, one of the venues for the U-17 WC, but urged authorities to speed up work on core areas like competition and training sites. With less than 200 days to go for the mega-event, an eight-member team led by FIFA’s head of events Jaime Yarza, on Wednesday kicked off an inspection of the six chosen centres in the country, starting with the capital.”We are satisfied, we have seen things move, we have seen things improve, but Delhi is a very important city in the world and the stadium should represent the city in the best way, and that means the stadium has to look really top notch.” Asked about the problem areas, Yarza said there was no major cause for concern at this stage. “The competition areas are partially done only and also the training sites, which are important for the players. They (organisers) have a very good plan and they are working according to the plan. So, for me, these two are some of the key areas. “A lot of work has been done, a lot of work will be done in the future. They just need to speed up a little bit more, but we are convinced everything is going to be alright. There is no major or big concern for us at this stage,” Yarza, who was hoping for work on core infrastructure to be finished by now, said.FIFA members along with LOC delegation visited Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to assess the progress of preparations for the tournament. Jaime added, “FIFA is very satisfied with the assistance of the government and the sports minister (Vijay Goel). But at the same time it’s important to know that we don’t have that much time to go. There is a lot of improvement needed, lot of work still to be done here in Delhi, and I encourage authorities to keep working with the same enthusiasm but with stronger pace so that they can really deliver what is required by FIFA in that time.” Tournament director Javier Ceppi: “The support that we have got from the government, ministry, Sports of Authority of India has been fantastic. We worked very hard to make sure that the facilities are being renovated as per our requirement. “The stadium was beautifully built for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and we need to bring back that splendour.”The capacity of the stadium, besides logistical considerations, will be the key when it comes to selecting venue for final of the tournament, Yarza said. “We prefer one of the bigger stadiums but there are logistical considerations like where the main office is based during the tournament.”The selection of final venue depends on various factors — the community and the passion for football, so choosing a venue for hosting the final of a tournament like the U17 World Cup is not just based on our requirements. It’s a combination of various factors that go together including fans, authorities and obviously the capacity of the stadium.” Ceppi added that “willingness and readiness” will be taken into account when venues will be decided for the bigger matches. (PTI)