The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium a.k.a Kaloor Stadium in Kochi has been officially handed over to FIFA by the Government on Tuesday. Kochi is one of the six host cities for FIFA U-17 World Cup, with Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati, Goa and Kolkata being the other venues.
At a function held at the press conference hall of the stadium, Mohammed Hanish- who is the Nodal Officer for the event, handed over the agreement to Roma Khanna- who is the head of venue operations of the World Cup’s local organizing committee.
Kaloor Stadium has been the Home Ground for Kerela Blaster FC in Indian Super League. It is a multipurpose international stadium in Kochi and has even hosted 10 One Day International cricket matches in the past.
FIFA team had inspected the stadium in 2014 and emphasized to improve the quality of pitch and need of bucket seats in the second tier of the stadium. In April, 2015 All India Football Federation (AIFF) had cleared Kochi as one of the venues after receiving FIFA’s technical committee report.
The FIFA U-17 World Cup will commence from October 6.