‘Delhi 95 per cent ready to host India’s first FIFA event’

New Delhi, Aug 4 (PTI) FIFA U-17 World Cup’s Tournament Director, Javier Ceppi today said the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here, which will be the venue of India’s matches, is 95 per cent ready for the mega-event.
“There’s a lot of work happened at the stadium, some great work. The stadium is 90-95 per cent 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,” Ceppi told reporters.
India, which is making its debut in a FIFA tournament as a participant as well as the host, will face the United States of America in their opening game and will go on to play Colombia and Ghana in the 58,000-seater stadium in the country’s Capital.
Ceppi hoped people would pour in at the Stadium when the Indian national anthem is sung for the first time at the World Cup football here.
“It is for the first time that the Indian national anthem would be played on a football World Cup in this stadium here on October 6. It has never happened before. It would be once in a life time experience,” Ceppi said.
“If that does not get you as an Indian, if that does not get you as a football fan, then I don’t know what gets you,” he added.
The Local Organising Committee is leaving no stone unturned to make the tournament a grand success with nation- wide promotional events lined up in the upcoming two months.
Speaking about it, Project Director of the LOC, Joy Bhattacharjya said, “This is the time you will see the LOC as well as all our stakeholders engaging in massive promotional campaigns. Besides the nationwide Mission XI Million programme, we are coming up with Trophy Experience Tour for the fans, which will help the fans get closer to the Official Winner’s Trophy of the FIFA U-17 World Cup.”
The FIFA U-17 World Cup will be held in the country from October 6 to 28 this year. PTI