What’s the story?
India’s matches in the U-17 FIFA World Cup were scheduled to be held in the city of Mumbai but are now set to be shifted to the capital, New Delhi at the behest of the Indian government. As per the Hindustan Times, FIFA is taking the Indian government’s request to shift the Indian team’s games to New Delhi “very seriously”.
In case you didn’t know...
India are hosting a major FIFA event for the first time ever, with the U-17 World Cup scheduled to start in October this year. India, being the host nation, are likely to be the number one team in Group A and play the inaugural game of the tournament.
The AIFF (All India Football Federation) wanted the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai to host the Indian team’s games but that does not look likely anymore.
The heart of the matter
The home team’s games were initially going to be held in the city of Mumbai but might now be shifted to New Delhi as the Sports Ministry is of the opinion that the capital should ideally be hosting the games played by the home team.
FIFA’s head of events, Jaime Yazra, spoke to PTI on the issue and said, “We are working on the most beneficial decision for the tournament. We take the requests from the Indian government very seriously, as it’s our main partner in the organisation of the FIFA U-17 World Cup.”
What’s next?
India’s first international footballing extravaganza is set to commence on the 6th of October, with the final being held on the 28th of October. The event will be held in six cities including Mumbai, New Delhi, Guwahati, Kolkata, Goa and Kochi. The draw for the event will be held in Mumbai on the 7th of July and will be graced by many eminent footballing personalities.
Author’s take
The Sports Ministry’s high-handedness is likely to disappoint thousands of football fans in the city of Mumbai who were waiting to see India’s future play in front of their eyes in a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Instead of shifting all of Team India’s matches to New Delhi, it would be wise of the government to evenly distribute the host team’s games across the country.
