U-17 WC: No opening ceremony?

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 16

The Government’s move to organise a lavish opening ceremony for the FIFA U-17 World Cup doesn’t look like fructifying. 

The ceremony, scheduled for October 5 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here, had been worked around speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and FIFA president Gianni Infantino. But it’s been learnt from sources in the All India Football Federation that Infantino has pulled out from his India visit for the World Cup’s opening matches. Instead, he would be arriving to watch the final in Kolkata on October 28.

“We are seriously considering dropping the idea,” a Sports Ministry official said. “But the final word has to come from the Prime Minister’s Office,” the official added.

FIFA doesn’t endorse the concept of having an opening ceremony. The sport’s world governing body had categorically told the government that it wouldn’t allow any extra expenditure from the Rs 80 crore that it had sanctioned for the organisation of the World Cup. 

However, the government was reportedly planning to spend Rs 10 crore on the ceremony. The government had even extended invites to football greats Diego Maradona and Ronaldo.