KOLKATA: The first act of the final countdown to the Under-17 World Cup kick-off has been completed with the handing over of the refurbished Salt Lake Stadium to FIFA’s local organising committee (LOC).
The stadium has been transformed into a state-of-the-art facility following massive renovation, with the state government having pumped in more than Rs1 billion.
It took 105 meetings and the involvement of multiple state departments to get the 33-year-old venue renovated. Help was also sought from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur and other engineering institutes, Hindustan Times quotes West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas as having told reporters here.
The colossal stadium is one of the six venues that will host games for the mega-event, which starts October 8, and the first to be handed over. State sports secretary Saeed Ahmed Baba signed the official document here Sunday alongside LOC tournament director Javier Ceppi.
The venue will host 10 matches, including the final on October 28, along with five Group F matches and one Group E game. There will be one round-of-16, a quarter final and a third place play-off tie also.
Giving it a 10/10 rating, Ceppi said the revamped stadium is on a par with any world-class venue that has hosted a FIFA World Cup final.
“If you ask me, it looks like a museum, be the entrance or the inside. Or like the teams said, it looks the lobby of a seven-star property,” Calcutta Telegraph quotes Ceppi as having said, thanking the chief minister for getting the work done in two-and-a-half year’s time.
“You see and the stadium looks nothing like it used to before. That’s because the stadium needed to be fit to host a World Cup final, the most important football match to be hosted in India’s history.”
“The West Bengal government took the challenge. This stadium can now be compared to other stadiums in the world that have hosted a FIFA World Cup final.”
“Ninety-eight per cent of the work is done and the remaining two per cent will be over in a month’s time,” state Sports Minister Aroop Biswas told reporters here.
“Work began on February 1, 2015… Many say it’s the best in Asia, but we can proudly say that it’s of international standards and the best in the world,” he added.
Originally a 120,000 capacity stadium, the Salt Lake Stadium can now accommodate about 80,000, though only 66,687 will be allowed in for the World Cup after FIFA enforced a guideline following a study with the Sports Grounds Safety Authority of the UK.
“Not a single person more than 66,687. That’s the capacity of the stadium for a safe evacuation for every part and every spectator of the stadium within eight minutes,” Ceppi said.
“The handover means that we take certain responsibility and certain decisions with regards to the last phase of rectification so it becomes fully operational for the tournament,” Ceppi added.
Work on the outer areas, like a subway, the Media and VIP Tribune, are in progress.
Ceppi also said that box offices, where tickets can be bought, will be set up at all venues except Kolkata. Reason: Online ticket sales have been good from the beginning in Kolkata and hence there is no need for a box office here.
