And while the blame game seemed inevitable at some point in time, sources within the AIFF have already declared that it is FIFA which is organising the tournament and not them. “It is FIFA’s responsibility to do this. If you look at the last U-17 World Cup which was hosted by the UAE, 82 per cent of the people working for the event were FIFA employees. It is certainly not organised by the AIFF. They have to look at the venues and form the various committees and tell us what they want. As long as they do not do that, what can we do?” asks a source close to the AIFF.
However, FIFA’s development officer for South Asia, Shaji Prabhakaran, sidestepped questions on the world body’s delay in finalising the venues, insisting that he was happy with everything. “I am satisfied with the progress. There is no cause for worry on whether all the venues will be ready in time,” he told this paper. That the country has a long way to go to host the event was evident in the recent Federation Cup, when most of the teams expressed dismay at the quality of training pitches provided to them at Kochi—one of the prospective venues of the U-17 World Cup. Eight cities—New Delhi, Bangalore, Kochi, Guwahati, Mumbai, Pune, Goa and Kolkata—are in the fray, yet none of these currently fulfill FIFA Stadia Criteria. The one stadium that comes closest to fulfilling the criteria—the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai—does not even figure in the list of prospective host cities.
The one bright spot, though, has been the preparation of the Indian team that will figure in the World Cup. A group of 26 youngsters are currently training in Goa and the AIFF hopes to have a pool of more than 50 players to choose from in a year. And that is not all! “We are very close to finalising a foreign coach who will look after these kids until the end of the U-17 World Cup. Discussions are in its final stages. We hope to make an announcement soon,” a source said.
its not possible ... they cant trained players whole India .. but they will choose atleast 60 Players ( Including 27 in Goa Acaddemy ) in one year time for 2 academy from U-14 league
@cybertron so you want (based on the article you shared) people like Roberto Martinez, Brandon Rodgers, Paul Bento (Portugal''s WC coach!!!), Frank de Boer, Didier Deschamps!, Andre villa boas, Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiiola to coach India u16 team. Seems legit!
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