The 18,000 capacity Nehru Stadium at Fatorda, which was been refurbished for the October 6-28 FIFA Under-17 World Cup, will host six group matches, two matches of the round of 16 and one quarter-final.
MARGAO r rThe state will witness nine matches, which includes five of the six Group C matches and a Group D match between Brazil and Niger. Given Goa’s undoubted admiration for European football, it is an opportunity for the fans to witness some of the finest young talents in the world in action at Fatorda.rEarlier in February, when a FIFA Delegation visited the facilities in the State, it said some renovation work was needed at the main venue in Goa, as also the five other centres that will host the tournament. rThe Goan Everyday checked on the preparedness for the event at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda. The stadium is getting dressed up to host the mega event. rThe central government has spent Rs 7 crore on construction of two additional dressing rooms admeasuring 800 square metres, thereby taking the total number of the dressing rooms at this stadium to four. The ground will have a 500-seater VVIP enclosure, medical room, dope room, match commissioner room, federation office, press tribune, conference room etc. rExuding confidence, Chief Engineer of Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) Jayant Chimulkar said that the stadium will be on par with the best football grounds in the world when it hosts the World rCup matches. r“The natural turf at the stadium is already in place... the playing surface is almost ready. The work is on to install high mast floodlit towers with a capacity of 2400 lux watts. However, before it was 1500 watts lux and FIFA had requested to upgrade the 1200 watts lux as per its guidelines. We are increasing it to 2400 watts lux,” Chimulkar informed this paper. r“I am confident that most of the work will be completed soon. We are giving final touches,” Chimulkar added. r“The look of the stadium has changed drastically. I can say the transformation will be around 100 percent compared to what it was before,” Chimulkar said. “The stadium is already in possession rof FIFA.”
