Capital all set for U17 Women’s World Cup

Bhubaneswar: As the countdown nears its completion, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik called on the people to be a part of the first FIFA event in the state capital, which will also be the first such women’s event in the country.
With just two days’ to go for the commencement of the U17 Women’s World Cup, the chief minister tweeted on Sunday, “The magnificent Kalinga Stadium is all set to host the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup. Appeal everyone to come in large numbers and witness the sporting extravaganza.”
Not a stranger to hosting international sporting events, the city has been decked up in hoardings for the FIFA tournament and look set for another successful organising of the sporting extravaganza.
“We have already hosted the FIH Men’s World Cup and the Junior Hockey World Cup earlier. Although the state has not hosted a football event of the stature of a FIFA World Cup, we have successfully conducted ISL and IWL matches, two seasons the Super Cup as well as the recent U20 SAFF Championships,” state secretary of sports and youth services, Vineel Krishna, told the TOI. “This is of course a FIFA event, with stricter protocols and teams from around the world. But we are working closely with FIFA, the local organising committee and other stakeholders to make a successful tournament.”
Bhubaneswar will play host to the matches in Group A, which will include three games each of India, Brazil, US and Morocco and five FIFA-standard grounds have been made available for the competition and training of the four teams. Among them, training grounds at Odisha Football Academy and Capital Football Arena have been built exclusively for the purpose.
Apart from that, a number of legacy programmes have been put in place for the state to utilise in developing women’s football in future. “The Football Carnival has been conducted to evoke interest in the game among schoolchildren. Also, 40,000 footballs from FIFA are being distributed in schools across the state to further spread the sport amongst children and youth,” Krishna explained.