FIFA U’17 World Cup: Tickets for the final to be priced as low as INR 48

Sporting icons like Sachin, Virat, Vijayan, Sindhu to promote the event

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Tournament director of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Javier Ceppi was present in Kolkata today. File Pic

Kolkata: Great news for soccer buffs in the city as the tickets for watching the final of the FIFA U’17 World Cup at Salt Lake Stadium will be as economical as INR 48. Which means the price of a ticket will be less than a dollar.

The FIFA local organising committee in a bid to get more crowds at the stadiums across all the six cities has decided to keep the prices within reach of a common man. The largest football spectacle in India will be hosted from October 6-28.

There will be three categories of season tickets for the 10 matches in Kolkata. They will be INR 480, 960 and 1920 respectively. It means the price of a single match day ticket will be INR 48, 96 & 192.

The catch here is one has to buy the season tickets to get the discount of “about 60 per cent”.

For instance, to watch the final which will be held here at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan on October 28, one has to buy the season tickets of 10 matches costing Rs 480, Rs 960 and Rs 1920.

As announced earlier, Kolkata will be home to group F teams and will host one round 16, one quarterfinal, the third place playoff and the final.

Tournament director of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Javier Ceppi today said this discount is unheard of in a football World Cup as such heavily discounted price was never seen.

“You can actually see a World Cup final in less than 50 rupees, when you’re buying it for 10 matches. It’s amazing.”

“We will open the venue packages initially. Effectively for the 10 matches in Kolkata not individual matches.

“It will be limited inventory that will open up now. It will be at 60 per cent discount of the original price of the tickets when tournament begins. It’s for rewarding the people who are buying first,” Ceppi said at a media interaction here today.

By doing this the local organising committee hopes to assess the footabll fervour among all the six cities.

“It’s a competition to gauge the which city has the most passionate fans. It’s for true football fans.”

“It will give a sense which city likes football most. It’s easy for us to see us then. I’v been told that the Bengalis like football so much it should reflect on the ticket sales. It’s a call for all football lovers because you don’t know the teams, who will play here,” Ceppi said.

“You need to be at the stadium regardless of who are you playing to see a high quality football World Cup match.”

Meanwhile, World Cup winning former Spanish football captain Carlos Puyol will be arriving in India tomorrow to hand over the first ticket to Mrs Gauri Bhaduri, the descendant of Shibdas Bhaduri, who was the captain of the historic 1911 Mohun Bagan team that defeated East Yorkshire Regiment to lift the IFA Shield.

As it was earlier announced, the online ticket sale will start on May 16 at 1911 hours in a tribute to the Mohun Bagan icons who had posted a historic win over Britain’s East Yorkshire Regiment in the IFA Shield final. Puyol will also visit Mumbai on May 17 for the promotion of Mission XI million project at the Andheri Sports Complex.

“This is the first visit of a FIFA legend into the country. We will have many legends coming in the build-up.”

Argentine legend Diego Maradona will visit in September for two days but the FIFA is not associated with that, Ceppi said.

“It’s done by a private promoter, we don’t get involved in such private programmes.”

It is also learnt that the FIFA U’17 World Cup local organizing committee is planning to have all the sporting icons of the country on board to promote the event. The sporting icons include Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, IM Vijayan, Bhaichung Bhutia, Chini Goswami and others.

“Every single Indian athlete is more than welcome to join in promotion and become ambassadors,” said Ceppi.

“It’s not only about Virats, Dhonis, Sachins, Souravs it’s also same for the Saina, Sania, Sindhu, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, PR Sreejest. Every athlete is welcome.”

“Football is the most important game. These athletes are most decorated. It’s extremely important for the country to involve them. We have spoken to many athletes. I’m not naming them but they have also approached us and extended their help in whichever way,” Ceppi added.