Kochi has been provisionally selected as a host of the 2017 under-17 FIFA World Cup.
Tournament Director Javier Ceppi and Project Director Joy Bhattacharya announced this at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday evening.
“Less than five cities have been selected, Kochi is one of them,” said Ceppi, who also revealed that Kochi was one of his personal favourites.
Two major inspections, by a FIFA panel, will be held next year in January and September before the six venues in the country which will host the league phase of the World Cup are confirmed. But Kochi is a strong favourite not only to host the league matches but also one or two knockout matches.
However it will depend on many factors, including the enthusiasm and crowd turnout at the venue, indicated Ceppi.
The four training grounds in Ernakulam — Maharaja’s Stadium, the Panampilly Nagar Sports Academy, Fort Kochi Veli Ground and Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) at Panangad — were announced as the training grounds.
The ‘training site agreement’ for the first three venues were handed over to Ceppi on Thursday and agreement for the KUFOS ground is expected to be signed in a few days.
Apart from the work on the turf, dressing rooms and floodlights will be set up at all the training grounds.
Around Rs. 40 crore are likely to be spent on the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main venue here, and between Rs. 3 to 4 crore on each training ground.
The visiting group, which included Head of Venue Inspections Roma Khanna, also held a ‘Kickoff Workshop’ — a series of meetings with the various stakeholders in Kochi.
Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany, Kerala Government’s Nodal Officer for the World Cup Mohammed Hanish, KFA President K.M.I. Mather were among those present at the event.
