Navi Mumbai's DY Patil to host FIFA U-17 WC in 2017

Fresh from hosting matches of the inaugural edition of the Indian Super League, Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium was picked as one of the host venues of the U-17 World Cup, to be held in the country in 2017

Fresh from hosting matches of the inaugural edition of the Indian Super League, Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium was picked as one of the host venues of the U-17 World Cup, to be held in the country in 2017.

Tournament Director Javier Cepii (centre), Dr Vijay Patil (right) and former India goalkeeper and WIFA CEO Henry Menezes at a city hotel yesterday. Pic/Suresh KK

Tournament Director Javier Cepii told reporters yesterday that while the prestigious tournament would be held in six venues across the country, four venues — Mumbai, Guwahati, Kolkata and Kochi — had been granted provisional approval. Meanwhile, two centres would be selected from among Goa, Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune.

“The venues would be given final ratification only in September 2016, when a FIFA delegation inspects them,” Cepii said before adding that FIFA had an 80-page manual related to compliance of venues.

It is learnt that FIFA has two lists of criterion — a basic list consisting of 349 items and a comprehensive list which has 8532 items — which every stadium needs to meet to host an international event. FIFA also has two lists for training venues — 52 items in the basic list and nearly 720 items in the comprehensive list. The lists include details as minute as the water pressure in the showers in the changing rooms, to the kilograms of ice used in ice baths for the footballers to cool down after matches.

'World-class pitch'
Cepii said that the DY Patil turf was a 'world-class pitch'. Though the stadium is primarily used for cricket, Dr Vijay Patil, the president of the DY Patil Sports Academy said that stadiums of the future have to be multi-functional. To accommodate FIFA’s requisitions, Dr Patil added that they had identified six practice venues near the DY Patil Stadium, including the Navi Mumbai Sports Association ground at Vashi.

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