All India Football Federation General Secretary Mr Kushal Das has stated that preparations are on track at the five venues which are slated to host the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2020.
Speaking in a webinar arranged by Sports Industry Awards (SPIA) Asia entitled ‘Sports Industry in India – today, Mr Das said: “These are unforeseen circumstances, and there have been some setbacks. But three of the five venues had already hosted the U-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017 and they do not require many changes.”
“Among the other two venues – at Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad – most of the work is on schedule. In Odisha, we have been working closely with the State Government, and also in Ahmedabad. We are quite hopeful that the venues will be ready in time.”
Footballing activities in India are suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Das added that the preparatory activities for the India U-17 team would start soon.
“Right now our coach (Thomas Dennerby, pictured above) is back in Sweden, while the players are back at their respective residences. There are some travel restrictions but we are working on how and when we can safely restart the camp.
“The coach is quite hopeful because this is a situation that every team is facing. So we are all on a level playing field,” he said. “We had a number of exposure tours planned for the team but we will have to revisit those plans.”