Kolkata: India has just made a formal bid to host the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup a month ago and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) tournament director of the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup Javier Ceppi said that the nation can host bigger tournaments in near future.
“We are 66 percent into the World Cup. We have 16 matches left and the response has been amazing.
“After 36 matches, the turnout is more than the what was in the 2011 Cricket World Cup after the same number of matches.
“The average attendance has 23,000 per match. The total turnout so far has been over 800,000,” Ceppi told reporters after the group stages came to an end on Saturday.
According to Ceppi the average crowd of the India matches was almost 49,000.
On being asked whether there are any chance of India hosting the U-20 World Cup, Ceppi said,”We are looking at a record attendance at youth tournament here in 2017. At this point it’s double to what Chile had in the entire tournament.
“I think until this moment after hosting 36 matches, the outcome of India hosting further football events and high level football events is positive because people have realised…you don’t know how many calls I got from football people and friends from all around the world saying on TV it looks fantastic.
“How to maintain these in the future is we need to see. But possibilities are there for India I am sure,” the Chilean, who has been involved with World Cup work since Day 1, added.
“The nation, if it were to bid for the U-20 World Cup or other World Cups..I feel there are other facilities that are coming up in the country that would be in a good position to be frontrunners,” Ceppi said when asked about supervising other venues beside the six hosting the U-17 event.
Kolkata, Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Navi Mumbai and New Delhi are the six venues.