The governing body of world football — FIFA — chose to acknowledge the iconic status of both the city and its stadium in awarding the final of the prestigious Under-17 World Cup to Kolkata.
“Football Takes Over” is the official slogan of the tournament.
The giant Salt Lake Stadium (Vivekananda YBK), which has undergone a remarkable transformation, will be hosting the final on October 28.
The announcement was made here at the end of a six-day trip of the FIFA delegation led by its head of tournaments, Jaime Yarza.
Guwahati (Indira Gandhi Stadium) and Navi Mumbai (D.Y. Patil Stadium) will be hosting the two semifinals. Goa (JN Stadium), Kochi (JN Stadium), Kolkata and Guwahati will host the four quarterfinals.
Delhi (JN Stadium) will not be conducting any matches beyond the pre-quarterfinals or the Round-of-16 stage due to alarming pollution levels after Diwali.
The tournament will get under way on October 6 with Delhi and Navi Mumbai hosting a match each on the opening day. All the six cities will be hosting six group league matches while Delhi and Goa share four out of the eight matches of the pre-quarterfinals.
The remaining four centres get one match each during this stage. The final distribution of the 24 qualifying teams in groups will be done during the official draw ceremony, which will happen on July 7 in Mumbai.
Holding out hope for a big turnaround in the development of football in the country, Yarza said: “We believe there is a revolution happening here. This is not just a World Cup, but this is the development of football for millions of kids in India.”
Matching the benchmark
Analysing the logic applied in selecting the six venues, Yarza said Kolkata matched the “benchmark” in getting the Salt Lake Stadium fulfil the “high international standards.”
For Guwahati, Yarza recalled the North-Eastern States contribution to Indian football. “They have the passion for football as 60 % of the India Under-17 team are from the North East,” he said.
Yarza said the D.Y. Patil Stadium has fulfilled most of the requirements while the three Jawaharlal Nehru Stadiums in Goa, Kerala and Delhi brought up “concerns” of different dimensions.
Kochi has been given time till May 15 to comply with the specifications. “There might be Plan B applied in the future but right now we are counting on Kochi,” Yarza said.
