When the Prime Minister of a country receives regular updates about an upcoming tournament, you know there’s a whole lot at stake. Every Monday, Narendra Modi’s office monitors and is updated about the developments of 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, scheduled to begin in India from October 6th.
Members of FIFA inspected the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Saturday, their fourth inspection and were left pleasantly surprised.
Head of tournament, Jaime Yazra, who last visited the stadium a year back was extremely satisfied with the developments in Mumbai, “Last year I said I was very happy with the DY Patil Stadium, I haven’t changed my mind It’s a fantastic stadium.”
“Most of the work that we requested has been completed. This will be one of, if not the best stadium in the country that will host the World Cup matches,” he added.
Also Read: FIFA U-17 World Cup: FIFA praises DY Patil Stadium, deems venue ready for tournament
Pop sensation, Justin Bieber is slated to perform at the DY Patil stadium, sometime in May. But Jaime reassured that there is nothing to worry about. “Now that the cricket season is over, we have time to prepare. One of things we like to do in all the World Cup venues is test the stadium.”
“We will have a fantastic test event and will be able to see 50,000 people entering the stadium, using the toilets etc. In any case, the planting of the grass was planned after the concert. I am sure Javier (tournament director) is a big fan of the artist and he will keep a check on the event,” he jokingly added.
Tournament Director, Javier Ceppi was very thankful that Mumbai will be one of the host cities, “You don’t know how grateful we are. It is a historical moment for the Asian continent. This is going to be the first World Cup in this sub-continent.”
“Among the 208 countries, there’s no better promotional platform than India. DY Patil is by far the best stadium in the country. We need to make sure that every other stadium is as good as this one. This is the standard that other stadiums have to get, we will not accept anything less,” he explained.
The base ticket prices for the U-17 World Cup will be nominal and the organisers expect the 55,000-seater to be jam packed. “The stadium will be full, that is something we’re extremely confident about,” said Javier.
Also Read: FIFA U17 World Cup 2017: FIFA expresses deep concern about pace of work in Kochi
“The tickets will be extremely affordable. You can go and watch a World Cup match for less than 100 rupees. That’s less than going to watch a movie. Of course, there are different slabs of pricing. We don’t want the financial part to be a restriction for anybody,” he added.
Javier also assured that they will make all arrangements to ensure the fans who can’t afford the base price ticket, will still have a chance to watch the matches., irrespective, “We will work with the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation to try to get as many people as possible inside the stadium. Those that don’t have the opportunity to access the tickets can still come,” he signed off.
