India’s struggles with hosting international events have been well-documented over the years. Despite the hurdles, the show must go on. As D-day arrives and the country hosts another major international sporting event – the Fifa under-17 World Cup, last minute touch-ups are still on-going across the six venues which will host the mega event.

Authorities at each venue have had to abide by a long list of exhaustive provisions stipulated by Fifa.

Other than the broad areas, such as infrastructure, logistics and environmental conservation, Fifa issues a long to-do list of specific stipulations. From weight of the ice used in ice-baths for the players in the dressing room to the pressure in the showers of the bathrooms, venues have had to ensure every stipulation is adhered to. The dressing rooms are also to have certain fruits that include specific nutrients required by the players.

The list included as many as 349 necessities with regards to the pitch. The list stretches to about a total of 8,532 items which only pertain to the playing area. Another 727 items are listed for the exact specifications of training grounds. Even the number of printers and toners required by each venue are pre-decided.

From certain number of refrigerators to hair-dryers to even electric shaving points, the list of requirements is specific and exhaustive. At each host venue, dressing rooms are made from non-slip floors made from prescribed materials. The list also includes telephone connections.

“If I go on to list all the areas that need to be addressed by each venue, it will take at least a couple of days just to read them out,” tournament director Javier Ceppi had told The Field when the preparations first began.

Key requirements

  • Specific weight of ice used for players’ ice baths
  • Specific water pressure in the showers
  • Fruits for players that include specific nutrients
  • Specific number of printers and toners to be made available at all venues
  • Refrigerators
  • Two hair-dryers in each dressing room
  • Two electric shaving points
  • Non-slip floors in dressing rooms
  • Telephones in dressing rooms

At Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium, which is one of the six venues, the experience of hosting international events has helped meet the high standards set by Fifa, according to spokesperson Akshata Prabhu.

“Having hosted Indian Premier League games and even a concert by Justin Bieber, our team was well abreast with the such detailed requirements,” she said.

While there were no demands of Bieberesque proportions, this time around the authorities have gone out of their way to spruce up the venue with new bucket seats and dressing rooms.

The same, though, could not have been said of other venues. The Fifa inspections that followed were hardly comforting. Except for the DY Patil Stadium, which is privately owned, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, every venue needed lift-up: from sprucing up the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata to taking care of legal turmoil in Kochi. The lead-up to the tournament has been a major fixing job for the organising committee.

The tournament is now upon us but it has all has been approved by Fifa. However, last-minute work continues at some places even at this late stage.

Making tickets fly-off the shelves

Tickets too are not exactly selling like hot cakes. In Delhi, a reported 27,000 tickets for the opening game were bought by the government and distributed among school children. In Navi Mumbai, according to stadium organisers, it is college students and staff who account for close to 20,000 tickets for the opener.

Ceppi, though, is confident the opening games at all venues will be sell-outs. “We might even end up breaking attendance records across all previous Fifa youth tournaments,” he said, adding that all was in order in terms of preparation. “We are in a very good position at the moment as far as preparation is concerned. Everything has been put in place.”

Asked to compare between the preparations between India 2017 and Chile 2015, where he was also the tournament director, Ceppi chose to be diplomatic. “I don’t believe in comparisons, I have always maintained that. I can only say that India has been right up there,” he said.