DY Patil gets nod for U-17 football World Cup

NAVI MUMBAI: The DY Patil Stadium in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, was on Thursday ratified by FIFA as venue for the Under-17 football World Cup to be hosted by India next year. A 23-member FIFA delegation visited the venue and said they were satisfied with the facilities and the ongoing preparations.
The delegation comprised FIFA experts alongside the Local Organising Committee (LOC). The announcement came soon after a two-hour inspection of the shortlisted venue.
Tournament director Javier Ceppi spoke about the struggle that went in finding a solution to a potential venue in Mumbai.
"It was November 2014, when Joy (Bhattacharya) and myself took probably the single most important flight for this tournament. We were struggling to find (to find) a solution for a venue, and solution to the situation in Mumbai. We took the flight and met Vijay Patil. He and his team understood the magnitude of this event and they understood that this is a once in life-time opportunity," Ceppi said.
"It's much more than just holding a World Cup. You need somebody with a vision, you need somebody that has capacity to look at the project as a whole. Back then, Patil had assured us that he would do everything in his capacity to make the facility ready and to mobilise the project throughout," Ceppi added.
Praising the local organisers for the efforts put in, Ceppi further said: "It is our pleasure to ratify Navi Mumbai and the D Y Patil Sports stadium as a venue for the FIFA Under 17 World Cup, Congratulations."
The delegation did make it a point to mention that the interest taken by the local authorities to get the work done was taken into account before ratifying the venue and the entire process wasn't just about focusing on the stadium or training areas.
"Big congratulations from FIFA for excellent work and good decision from Javier and team in choosing Navi Mumbai as one of the venues for the first ever FIFA Under 17 World Cup in India," Tracy Lou, FIFA Project Lead for the U-17 World Cup said.
A day earlier, Kochi became the first Indian city to be officially declared as a venue to host the Under-17 World Cup after the delegation ratified the centre. The FIFA team is now scheduled to visit Goa on October 22.