Under-17 World Cup schedule: Navi Mumbai, Guwahati the winners, Kochi the big loser

As the FIFA delegation rolled into town on the morning of the 27th, there was an air of curiousness and certainty amongst local media.

Kolkata was being visited last, Bengal had just won the Santosh Trophy for the 32nd time in 71 editions making it the undisputed powerhouse of Indian football (with no offence meant to Goa, Kerala, Punjab or the Northeast), surely they would award the final to the Yuva Bharati Krirangan (or the Salt Lake Stadium for those who prefer to keep it simple)?

As the expected announcement came, those gathered around including AIFF vice-president Subrata Datta and Bengal’s minister for Sports and Youth services Laxmi Ratan Shukla broke into applause, more out of relief than excitement. The relief stemmed from the fact that Navi Mumbai had set the benchmark high and as the delegation had revealed earlier, they had expected all the venues to match up to the same standards.

So what does this mean for all the venues?

Kolkata

While unveiling Kolkata as the final, tournament director Javier Ceppi had said, “It is a happy day for me because all the questions about the match schedule will stop being asked. We can finally focus on other things. It has been an extremely complicated process to finalise the schedule to have a World Cup in India – different festivities, weather patterns, different timelines.”

The city wasn’t a big winner, as it was always expected to get the final. But it did manage to get ten matches, the highest of any venue, including a match that may not be high on the priority list but definitely up there in terms of talent on show, the third-fourth playoff.

As a hardcore football fan, who wouldn’t want to pay to watch the four best Under-17 teams in the world on a single day? The stadium has undergone a complete overhaul, and the 85000 seater is the best available choice to host the final.

Matches: Group F (six matches), 1 X Round of 16, 1 X Quarterfinal, Final

Navi Mumbai

One of two big winners on the day. The Western India Football Association delivered all their promises on time and continue to grow in stature led by their CEO and ex-international president Henry Menezes.

Over the past few years, it would be reasonably fair to state that the state of Maharashtra has seen the biggest growth in the sport in the country, including training venues, grassroots football and local tournaments.

The FIFA delegation committee claimed to be absolutely bowled over by the standards and the preparedness of the DY Patil Stadium and rightly awarded it a semifinal. Also, Group A are also scheduled to held here and traditionally, the draw (which is being incidentally held in Mumbai on July 7) places the home team in, you guessed it, Group A.

If that were to happen, it would be a win-win but more importantly, this is a lesson to all the footballing hotbeds of the country: snooze and you will lose.

Matches: Group A (six matches), 1 X Round of 16, Semifinal 2

Guwahati

The other big winner, Sarbananda Sonowal’s efforts in trying to paint the city as the sports capital of India is slowly but surely paying off. First the 2016 South Asian games, and now a semifinal in the first-ever FIFA tournament to be held in the country.

While discussing Guwahati as a semi-final venue, Ceppi defended the choice, “We got the complete backing of the state government and the people are very passionate about the game there.” There you go, support from the local authorities, missing in some of the other venues, was provided in plenty in Assam.

The city is not quite the heartbeat of football in the region, but with the lack of infrastructure, such as an absence of five-star hotels and other facilities in the likes of Shillong and Aizawl, Guwahati can be expected to win a few other battles in the near future. The Northeast deserved representation in the country’s first-ever global football tournament and Guwahati, by fate or not, won the right to represent the region.

Matches: Group E (six matches), 1 X Round of 16, 1 X Quarterfinal, Semifinal 1

Kochi

A state where more than 15,000 people gather to watch a game of sevens and an estimate of 30,000 people watched the Santosh Trophy initial rounds earlier this year. ISL-3 rarely saw crowds below 50,000 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi.

That this venue, which was/is a guaranteed full house for FIFA and AIFF does not get to host a semi-final is a crying shame and the administrators and local politicians have only themselves to blame.

If Assam had the backing of it’s government, Kochi most certainly did not. FIFA head of events Jamie Yarza reiterated that Kochi was a concern and although they have ruled out alternate venues, Javier Ceppi announced the venue’s schedule, adding a ‘If they can get it completed on time’ tag, reminding the media, FIFA and the LOC of just how much work was pending there.

While it is true that no work could happen due to the hosting of the ISL, the tournament’s venues were announced long ago. The football maniacs in the state have every right to be aggrieved. Blaming the ISL is simply not good enough.

Matches: Group D (six matches), 1 X Round of 16, 1 X Quarterfinal

Goa

With the withdrawal of the Goan clubs en masse from the I-League, low crowds and poor turnouts at Federation Cup matches and Santosh Trophy finals, what Yarza described as a “lukewarm response” from the locals at the AFC Under-16 Championship held there last year, this was expected.

The Inspection Committee had their concerns about crowds turning up to watch matches and the venue as a result, will be hosting a quarterfinal as their marquee clash.

Churchill’s re-instatement to the I-League has brought back some much-needed cheer back to the state, which has declared football as a state sport but that should not gloss over the problems the game is facing in Goa.

Matches: Group C (six matches), 2 X Round of 16, 1 X Quarterfinal

New Delhi

Perhaps the only venue whose fate was sealed even before the delegation visited the stadium. Pollution is a major worry and Ceppi had mentioned that “we will not be returning to Delhi after the 16th.”

With the mother of all smoke-fests set to engulf the capital on the 19th as is the annual ritual, the tournament director wouldn’t certainly want to what he described as “an opportunity to witness the next Mario Gotze or the Toni Kroos” thrown away. Delhi will be the only venue not to have a single quarterfinal or any match beyond.

And it’s not just this tournament, the capital’s pollution problems that make it appear like an Instagram filter at times will hinder the city’s chances of hosting any major sporting event in the future. Even the LOC doesn’t want to stay there, they’re moving to Kolkata during the tournament!

Matches: Group B (six matches), 2 X Round of 16