NEW DELHI: The government’s move to organise a lavish opening ceremony for the FIFA U-17 World Cup has reportedly gone for a toss after FIFA president Gianni Infantino opted out of attending and instead confirmed his presence for the final in Kolkata on October 28.
The ceremony, scheduled for October 5 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here, had been worked around speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Infantino, The Tribune reports.
“We are seriously considering dropping the idea,” a Sports Ministry official told the daily. “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 Rs800 million that it had sanctioned for the organisation of the World Cup.
However, the government was reportedly planning to spend Rs100 million on the ceremony, Tribune further reports. The government had even extended invites to football greats Diego Maradona and Ronaldo.
