Kochi on Wednesday became the first Indian city to be officially declared as one of the venues for hosting the 2017 Fifa U-17 World Cup after it received a green signal from a high-level delegation of football’s world governing body. He said the decision to ratify Kochi as venue has been taken after discussing it with all the stakeholders. Tracy Lu, project lead for the World Cup, said the preparations at one of India’s footballing hotbeds is fit for this stature. I believe thus that it would make for a terrific World Cup venue,” Lu said. Besides Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the team also visited the prospective training grounds in Kochi -- Parade Ground, Fort Kochi Veli Football Ground, Maharajas College Ground and Government Boys High School Panampilly Nagar.

Source: Hindustan Times October 19, 2016 09:11 UTC