FIFA 'satisfied' with India's preparations to host U-17 World Cup

We are looking at October, 2016, by which time all the core infrastructure must be ready: FIFA

Expressing satisfaction over the work done at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan, a FIFA inspection team on Thursday proposed few minor changes to turn the facility into a world class stadium.

"We inspected the stadium. The planning and work done here is excellent. The work done until now is fruitful and satisfactory. There are minor amendments that need to be done.

“We will come back in October to see the final situation. This will become the top stadium in India in future," Jamie Yazra, Head of Events, FIFA U-17 World Cup delegation team, said.

While talking about minor changes, Yazra said these will be small fine tunings.

Yuva Bharati Krirangan, also known as Salt Lake Stadium, is one of the selected venues for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas too expressed happiness after the inspection of the stadium.

He is in India to oversee preparations for the U-17 World Cup.

The delegation is led by Yarza - FIFA's head of events - and it would now travel to two other cities - New Delhi, and Guwahati - after having visited Kochi, Mumbai and Goa earlier.

"We are looking at October, 2016, by which time all the core infrastructure must be ready, one year before the tournament," said Javier Ceppi, the U-17 World Cup Tournament Director.

Ceppi, while talking about the capacity of the stadium, said that he hoped that it would be able to hold around eighty five thousand spectators.

"I am told that the stadium has a capacity of one lakh ten thousands. But with the individual seats the stadium capacity will come down to eighty five thousands which is very good because it considers all the security planning," he said.

Apart from Yarza and Ceppi, the FIFA delegation comprised Tracy Lu, Felipe Restrepo and Vijay Parthasarathy (Competitions Department), Christina Hollerl (Marketing), Jochem Steinhoff (Media), Paul Calder (TV), Jean Pierre Koeltgen (Ticketing), Mike Pfister (Senior Development Manager) and Shaji Prabhakaran (Development Officer).

Image: FIFA officials during their investigations at New Delhi stadium in February 2014.

Photograph: AIFF Media