New Delhi: The government on Thursday gave the
green signal to India's ambitious bid to host the U-17 Football World
Cup in 2017, thus boosting the country's chances of organising the
tournament.
"The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to the proposal for
submitting guarantees sought by the All India Football Federation (AIFF)
from the Government of India for their bid to host the Federation
Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Under 17 World Cup
Football Tournament in 2017 in India," a statement issued by the sports
ministry said.
Guarantees on tax exemption, security, transport and accommodation
of players, visa and foreign exchange were few of the matter due to
which uncertainty loomed large over India's bid as FIFA, world
football's governing body, needed the clearances for the same.
India's first bid was rejected early this year, in January, due to
insufficient assurances from the government. But with the government
giving the go-ahead in providing guarantees that would meet FIFA's basic
requirements; it has paved the way for a strong bid.
While the expenses of hosting the event will be borne by FIFA and
AIFF, the government has assured additional financial assistance.
"While the expenditure for upgradation of stadia (Rs.95 crore) will
be provided as additional central assistance to the State Governments, a
sum of Rs. 25 crore is kept as a contingency to ensure smooth conduct of the tournament.
"AIFF and FIFA have agreed to bear the entire expenditure of
hosting the tournament. The amounts required are to be raised through
sponsorships and other commercial agreements," the statement added.
The AIFF has proposed holding of matches in five states -- Delhi,
West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and one among the states of Assam,
Goa and Kerala.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had, last month, approved AIFF's bid.
Following the clearance from PMO, the sports ministry got down to preparing a cabinet note for their approval.
Ireland, Uzbekistan and South Africa are the other three bidders.
India will have to submit its bid by September after which the FIFA will
make a final announcement in December.
FIFA's objective is to help India improve its football
infrastructure and grassroots through organising the tournament. But
Valcke, during his visit to the country last year, had made it clear
that India will have to adhere to the norms if they hope to host the
tournament.
"The proposed Under-17 World Cup would encourage more youngsters to
participate in sports and also help develop the sport of football in
the country. It will also promote tourism in the country.
"The event also has a lot of importance from the point of view of
playing technique, training, coaching and competition exposure, etc,
especially at under-17 level, and thus would be good for the future of
football in India," the ministry statement said.
During his visit, Valcke had stated: "There will no change in rules
and it will be normal bidding process with countries competing. But we
want the Under-17 World Cup to go to a country where the game can be
developed from the grassroots.
"India is a huge football market. A country of 1.2 billion cannot
lag behind in football. We see the event as the perfect platform for the
development of infrastructure and grassroots development. We want to
make football the number two sport in India in ten years."
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