FIFA team inspects Kalinga stadium for U-17 Women's World Cup

BHUBANESWAR: With the state government has undertaken massive infrastructure overhaul at the Kalinga Stadium for the U-17 Women's Football World Cup-2020, a FIFA delegation expressed its satisfaction with the works.

"We're very happy to be here because we know Bhubaneswar is a city which is very passionate about sports. You have hosted the Hockey World Cup and now it is time to shift to football. If Bhubaneswar is selected as a host city, we're very confident that the U-17 women's World Cup will be a huge success," said Oliver Vogt, FIFA project lead for the tournament after inspecting the works at the stadium.

The FIFA top official said what has been promised by the state government on developing the stadium has been kept. "We are very confident and pleased to have such a reliable partner (Odisha government) when it comes to infrastructure and sports promotion," he added.

Bhubaneswar became the third venue to be inspected by the FIFA-local organizing committee (LOC) delegation after Kolkata and Guwahati. The delegation will travel to Ahmedabad on Saturday to assess the facilities, said official sources.

State sports secretary Vishal Dev said the state government is committed in its efforts to host the FIFA U-17 women's World Cup in a grand way.

"All infrastructural works will be completed by February-end. We have a record of hosting tournaments in a big scale. Every tournament including hockey World Cup and Asian Athletics Championships that we have hosted has received wonderful review. I am sure the FIFA event will be a great success here," said Dev.

Bhubaneswar got the provisional clearance for the FIFA U-17 women's World Cup on August 27 while the sports secretary said they are confident to get final confirmation very soon.

Besides upgradation of the competition area (main pitch at the stadium), the state government works on development of four practice pitches in the city. Besides, an additional gallery is being developed to accommodate more spectators. The stadium has a sitting capacity of 15,000 people.

The tournament will be held in five venues in India from November 2 to 21, next year. Schedule of the tournament is expected in the first quarter of the next year.

Tournament Director of the LOC, Roma Khanna said, "Even though more work needs to be done with the overall infrastructure; we are confident in Bhubaneswar's ability to deliver this."

She said the FIFA-LOC is extremely pleased and very appreciative of the state government for putting weight behind this initiative.