CHARLES D'SOUZA
MARGAO
As it awaits the arrival of FIFA's final delegation on Saturday, the Nehru stadium at Fatorda is all decked up like a bride. On view is an upgraded infrastructure. And, exuding confidence about this stadium, is the Chief Engineer of Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) , Chimulkar, who rates it as world class.
With the FIFA's final inspection being undertaken in the county, the provisional venues will have to be ready and comply with the standards required for hosting an Under-17 World Cup match when the 13-member strong FIFA delegation led by Marion Mayer-Vorfelder (Event Manager FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017) and Tracy Lu (Project Lead for FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017) will visit Nehru Stadium, Fatorda on October 22 for a detailed inspection of this ground.
This ground is all set to be chosen as the venue for hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Once the inspection is completed, the team headed by FIFA Event Manager in-charge Marrion Mayer-Vorfelder - FIFA Event Manager for the tournament in New Delhi, Guwahati and Kolkata and Tracy Lu - FIFA Project Lead in Kochi, Navi Mumbai and Goa will announce whether Nehru Stadium gets the nod or not to host this event.
Earlier in February, when the FIFA delegation visited the facilities, it said major renovation work was needed at most of the six stadia. The Goan Everyday checks on Nehru Stadium, Fatorda ahead of the final inspection.
The Nehru Stadium will be nearly ready in its new look when a FIFA delegation comes calling on Saturday. The central government has already spent more than Rs 6.55 crore on construction of two additional dressing rooms admesauring 800 sq-mts, thereby taking the total number of the dressing rooms at this stadium to four. The ground will have 500 seating VVIP enclosure, medical room , dope room, match commissioner room , Federation office, press tribune, conference room etc.
Exuding confidence, Chief Engineer of SAG, Chimulkar, is convinced that the stadium will be on par with the best football grounds in the world when it hosts the Under-17 FIFA World Cup matches which commences late next year in September-October. The stadium has already taken the care of natural turf and work is on to install high mast floodlights within three days as the same could not be stalled due to AFC U 16 and BRICS Tournament. “I am hopeful that most of the work will be complete before the October inspection,” Chimulkar said.
“The look of the stadium will change drastically. I can say the transformation will be around 95 percent compared to what it was before,”Chimulkar said . “There will be multiple stages of inspections done by different FIFA teams. One will happen in October this year before another in February 2017. The stadium will be finally handed over to FIFA in August 2017.”
