By Samindra Kunti in New Delhi, India
October 9 – India were outclassed 0-3 by the United States in their opening game of the U-17 World Cup, but local organisers have struggled with ticketing and basic services at venues on the tournament’s opening weekend.
World Cup debutants and underdog India were comprehensively beaten by the US in Group A and for much of the 90 minutes India vs US was a match of boys against men, with the Americans superior in every department of the game. India had bright spells with Anwar Ali hitting the crossbar in the 84th minute, but in the same sequence of play Andrew Carleton scored a lightening-quick breakaway goal at the other end. Joshua Sargent and Cristopher Durkin got the other goals for the United States.
The 3-0 defeat was a brutal introduction for India to football at the highest level, but the Indian teenagers delivered a respectable performance and scoreline. There was however more drama in the stands at the Jawaharlal Nehry Stadium in the Indian capital. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the players before kick-off, but his security detail complicated the match organization with traffic chaos outside the venue.
The government had snapped up 26,750 tickets to ensure a sizable crowd at India’s first match of the tournament and distributed these tickets to school children and NGOs, but the children, in blue India t-shirts, were forced to fight for drinking water at half-time. Food concessions had run out of bottled water. Those in despair turned to toilet water.
The housekeeping vendor at the Nehru Stadium had deployed less than half of the contracted staff. “The FIFA organisers realised the need to augment the resources and also requested help of the Ministry,” wrote the Sports Authority of India in a statement. “Taking into account gravity of the situation, the Sports Ministry has stepped in and SAI has been instructed to augment housekeeping staff to help tournament organisers to manage the crisis in the remaining matches.”
With 46,351 fans Delhi’s Nehru Stadium was not at its 55,000 capacity in spite of an expected sell-out. Poor ticketing has plagued the opening stages of the tournament, leaving fans frustrated. Brazil vs Spain in Kochi and Germany vs Costa Rica had been listed as sell-outs, but at both high-profile matches there were thousands of empty seats.
At Kochi’s Nehru Stadium 21,362 fans watched Brazil edge Spain 2-1, almost 8,000 less than the official capacity of the venue. North of Kochi, in Goa, 12,329 fans attended Germany-Costa Rica, but the official capacity of the Fatorda Stadium is 16,000. The many empty seats have raised serious questions about how tickets have been distributed at the U-17 World Cup. In a statement the Local Organising Committee of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 defended the situation.
“All the tickets that have been put up for sale, are the maximum number of tickets that can be sold at each venue discounting below mentioned commitments,” wrote the Local Organising Committee. “When a venue appears sold out, it reflects the position of tickets that have been put out for sale.”
“Discounting the contractual obligations with the Hosting Association, all the participating teams, all the 13 commercial partners of the Tournament, the host broadcaster, the signatories of host city, stadium and training site agreements and other stakeholders with which there are contracts with regards to the Tournament, to provide tickets.”
On the pitch defending world champions Mali suffered a surprise 3-2 defeat at the hands of Paraguay. England trashed Chile 4-0 in Kolkata to get their campaign off to a good start. On Monday hosts India take on Colombia in a do-or-die match.
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