Four out of the six venues shortlisted to host India’s first ever FIFA World Cup was given an overwhelming green signal from the travelling U-17 World Cup Inspection Committee. However, two stadiums, owing to both natural and manmade issues, fell behind on the construction schedule. For the Nehru Stadium in Delhi, the pollution post Diwali posed cost them a potential quarter-final spot at the sporting extravaganza, however for Kochi, one of India’s footballing cradles, it could be a different story. The Committee revealed last week that, the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Kerala’s capital stands in danger of missing out on hosting any match, due to the non construction of the media box and seats.
A source from the local committee said, “Kochi is a dicey one for us, we can’t take a call as of now because it will be right at the deadline. We have decided to put all our resources together to make this happen, the state government has given its word that they will. Hence, we will both join hands to complete the work on time. If it doesn’t happen Plan B is likely to have a 5 stadium venue, it has happened in the past and if the process doesn’t fasten, we will be forced to take this call.”
If the stadium is not ready, we will be forced to make it a 5 venue World Cup: FIFA source
He added, “This is not the first time its happened, previously at a Beach FIFA sanctioned event in Thailand, one of the venues was removed. So we are keeping it as a realistic possibility. It can be a five venue World Cup, if we don’t meet the deadlines.”
For a state, which has thriving domestic league, missing out on the World Cup would be a major loss. The JLN stadium during the Indian Super League (ISL) registered full capacity in every match, along with North East United’s stadium in Guwahati, highlighting the craze for the sport in the region. Anil Kumar from the Kerala Football Federation (KFF) stadium, “The ISL matches in between actually slowed down our process for development, virtually nothing happened during this time. So, we are now racing against time, I hope we are ready in time for something like this not to happen. We have full confirmation from the local committee that together with the state government they will make it happen.”
For a country, which has a handful of footballing hot bed’s, Kerala’s axing will be the greatest misfortune of the tournament.
