Fifa urges quicker preparation work at JLN
Fifa’s U-17 World Cup inspection team has urged authorities to hasten work on core areas like competition and training sites at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here, one of the venues for the mega event to be hosted by the country from October 6 to 28.
They, however, expressed satisfaction at its overall progress.
The eight-member Fifa team, led by head of events Jaime Yarza, along with a local organising committee delegation, began their inspection of the six chosen venues to assess progress of preparations on Wednesday.
“We are satisfied, we have seen things move, we have seen things improve, but Delhi is a very important city and the stadium should represent the city in the best way, and that means the stadium has to look really top notch,” Yarza said.
Asked to identify the problem areas that needed to be addressed with less than 200 days for kick-off, Yarza refused to elaborate but he expected work on core infrastructure to be finished by now.
Fifa hasn’t chosen any back-up venue and in case of an “unlikely catastrophe” the tournament will be hosted in five venues, Yarza said.
“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
Fifa hasn’t chosen G any back-up venue and in case of an “unlikely catastrophe” the tournament will be hosted in five venues, head of events Jaime Yarza said
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,” he added.
Tournament director Javier Ceppi said work at JLN should be complete by the end of April.
“We worked very hard to make sure that the facilities are being renovated as per our requirements. The stadium was beautifully built for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and we need to bring back that splendour,” Ceppi said, adding the next inspection was likely to be held around the time of the draw in July.
“Just before the draw we will be visiting the facilities to make sure that everything is in place. During the draw all the teams will come to India and they will visit the venues.” Fifa is yet to announce the venue of the final. Yarza said the capacity of the venues as well as favourable logistics, would determine selection.
The inspection team will next move to Goa, followed by pit stops at Kochi, Navi Mumbai, Guwahati and Kolkata.