Bengaluru can be selected as one of the venues for the 2017 Under-17 FIFA Football World Cup provided construction on the Bangalore Football Stadium (BFS) begins by January next year.
The BFS needs to be demolished and rebuilt to meet FIFA criteria. Construction work, however, is yet to begin. This task was originally given to Jindal Steel Works (JSW) Group, but disagreements led the company to pull out.
The Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA) then issued an open tender; the contract is yet to be awarded. At a press conference on Thursday, Tournament Director Javier Ceppi stated, "We are currently waiting for work to begin at the Bangalore Football Stadium. We have done a thorough recce of the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, and unfortunately, it does not comply with FIFA requirements." Mr. Javier Ceppi explained the deadlines involved in selecting a venue.
"Colin Smith, FIFA Director of Competitions, specified that FIFA requires stadiums to be ready nine to 12 months before the tournament begins. The event is scheduled to commence in September or October 2017, and thus, stadiums need to be ready by around January 2017. We are ready to give some latitude in this regard,but we expect work to commence at the BFS by January 2016," Mr. Ceppi said.
