On verge of breaking attendance record

Focus on setting up new CoE

LOC on moving semifinal from Guwahati

KOLKATA: Hours after FIFA president Gianni Infantino 's arrival in the city on Thursday, the game's global governing body announced that India are now ready to host any big tournament. As the under-17 World Cup enters its final phase, FIFA has set the ball rolling for India's next target - hosting the Under-20 World Cup.Soon after landing here in the morning, Infantino had said that India “is now a football country.” A few hours later, FIFA head of tournaments Jaime Yarza went a step further. “What India has now in terms of infrastructure and passion for the game, they have the ability to host any major tournament. They can do it for sure. India's infrastructure is almost at senior World Cup level,” Yarza told a news conference.Sitting beside him, All India Football Federation chief Praful Patel said that he would present the country's case as future hosts of another tournament in front of the game's powers-that-be.Patel will attend the FIFA Council meeting, which will be held at a city hotel on Friday. “India has bid for the under-20 World Cup to be staged in 2019. I have been invited to FIFA Council meeting as (representative of) the host nation. I will use all the goodwill in my command to good use and present the case for future of Indian football,” Patel maintained.The attendance for matches of India's maiden tryst with a FIFA tournament breached the one-million mark in the final match of the round of 16. With the Salt Lake Stadium expected to see another full house during the third-place playoff and final on Saturday, the tournament is on track to becoming the most attended World Cup at the junior level.“This tournament is going to be the most-watched tournament in under-17 and under-20 categories ever. We are proud of this,” Patel said.China recorded a 1.2 million attendance at the junior-most World Cup (when it was an under-16 competition) in 1985. In under-20 World Cup, Colombia held the record at 1.3 million when they hosted it in 2011.Yarza said India's organisation has exceeded expectations. “All teams have given FIFA their feedback. Some of them are unhappy -not for losing but for leaving this beautiful country. India has become a footballing nation in every sense. This is the legacy of this tournament for the country,” he pointed out.Patel emphasised that the AIFF will set up a national centre of excellence (CoE) soon. “I have spoken to FIFA president for support in this respect. It should be ready in two years' time. To further boost our development activities, six AIFF academies will also come up across the country. Each academy will house 30-40 boys and girls so that we can continue to grow as a football nation, post under-17 World Cup,” Patel said.According to Javier Ceppi, tournament director of the local organising committee, not holding the England v Brazil semifinal in Guwahati as per schedule remains the only “unfortunate” incident in an otherwise flawless organisation.“It rained for 48 hours and no ground would be able to sustain that. We didn't have any issue with the ground conditions and drainage system there. Had we got a seven-day gap, we could have made it playable. Nobody wants to move a match from a venue but at the end of the day, players' safety is a priority,” Ceppi maintained.