Kochi confirmed as FIFA U-17 World Cup venue

Kochi: It’s official. Kochi has been confirmed as a venue for the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2017. The city is also the first in the country to be ratified for the showpiece event.

The announcement was made here Wednesday after an inspection of the main venue, Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, by an 18-member FIFA delegation headed by Project Lead, Tracy Lu.

“We are extremely pleased to announce that Kochi has been ratified as a venue for the U-17 World Cup,” said tournament director Javier Ceppi.

India had won the bid to host the World Cup in December 2013 and ten cities were short-listed, out of which six were provisionally selected to be venues for the event that is scheduled for September-October next year.