U17 World Cup: 17,000 season passes sold in five hours, at prices cheaper than a single IPL ticket

With the 2017 Under-17 Fifa World Cup four months away, India is going all out to make sure the event, a first of its kind in the country, is a huge success. On Wednesday, Spain and Barcelona legend Carles Puyol was in Mumbai promoting the event and also playing a five-a-side game with youngsters aspiring to be footballers.

“For India to become a footballing nation, kids need to start playing and parents, schools and other institutions have to promote the sport,” he said. “Children have to practise, and they have to have fun while playing.”

Puyol is visiting India for the first time to launch the ticket sales for the U-17 World Cup. The tickets went on sale at 19:11 on Tuesday, in tribute to Indian club Mohun Bagan’s defeat of an English side for the first time in 1911.

Tickets go live

“Till about 2 am [on Wednesday] we had crossed 17,000,” said Joy Bhattacharjya, project director of the U-17 World Cup’s local organising committee. “To be honest, we had issues with the site because unprecedented amount of people were logging on. Even Fifa didn’t expect that the Junior World Cup will attract such traffic. Given that 17,000 tickets have gone out is quite sensational.”

Bhattacharjya said that the ploy to sell season tickets for all games was a big hit. “Mostly package deals were bought,” he said. “So it is mainly venue-related because we don’t know which games will be played where. We expect all six World Cup cities to be full. If Goa has 20,000 seats then we will fill 20,000. If Kolkata has 85,000 seats then we will try to fill that many.”

The U-17 World Cup will be held across Guwahati, Kochi, Navi Mumbai, Goa, New Delhi and Kolkata from October 6 to October 28. Kolkata will host the final at Salt Lake Stadium.

Seasonal tickets cheaper than IPL tickets

Buying a season ticket for the U-17 World Cup is cheaper than watching a single Indian Premier League match. The most expensive IPL ticket goes in the excess of Rs 4,000, while the most expensive seasonal pass for the U-17 World Cup is in Guwahati and Kolkata, priced at Rs 1,920. This is a Category One type of pass. A Category Two type will cost a minimum of Rs 800, while Category Three starts at Rs 320.

Season tickets for all 10 matches in Kolkata, including the final, are available in denominations of Rs 480, Rs 960 and Rs 1,920. A season ticket in Goa will cost Rs 320, while an IPL ticket’s minimum cost per game is Rs 800.

As of now, only season tickets are available for purchase depending on the venue and categories. The seasonal ticket will cover all the matches the stadium will host, including the final in Kolkata’s case, and it is being sold at an introductory discount of 60%.

Individual match tickets will be available from July 21 to October 5 in all categories with a 25% discount. Category Three tickets will be available for Rs 48 per match. However, those interested can purchase a seasonal ticket and witness all the matches with ease.

Kochi missing out?

Two months ago, Fifa’s organising committee had expressed concern about the speed of building infrastructure for the tournament, but Bhattacharjya said that the stadium will be ready to host the event. “Post that warning from Fifa, everyone has gone to see the preparations,” he said.

“Infrastructure can’t come overnight, but we have pictures to see that it was a far worse scenario a month back,” he added. “[Tournament director] Xavier [Ceppi] will go for a final inspection on 18th [May]. We are confident on Kochi clearing through.”

The DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai recently hosted a Justin Bieber concert, which was attended by more than 50,000 fans, but Bhattacharjya said that tournament organisers had gone to inspect the site after the event and there were a few issues that had to be solved. Sports Minister Vijay Goel, who was present at the event, will be inspecting the stadium as well.

“A team has gone [to inspect] and the sports minister will be going today,” Bhattacharjya said. “It (the concert) was planned much in advance. Only after asking us and us writing to Fifa and getting assurances did they consider hosting this.”

Bhattacharya added that the stadium hosting the music concert would help the World Cup organisers figure out “how it flowed and how well it went”. “There are issues and but they are minor,” he said. “The only serious thing was about the music, but that is a personal opinion as I am not Belieber (Justin Bieber fan), it is safe to say. We will never discourage events happening at such places as long as it doesn’t hurt the field of play. As I said, it gives a run-through of how it works out. But a few months later we will stop giving permissions [for other events].”