Official Mascot Kheleo with the U17 world cup trophy

The Local Organising Committee and FIFA have today announced the dates of a unique Trophy Experience for India’s first major FIFA event – the Under-17 FIFA World Cup India 2017.

AIFF President and Chairman of the LOC, Praful Patel said: “The Trophy Experience will mark the last phase of our event promotion and it is very important, because it will give the fans around the country the opportunity to get up close to the same Official Winner’s Trophy that the captain of the winning team of the FIFA U-17 World Cup will be lifting on 28 October in Kolkata. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance and we hope that people can come in large numbers to the display locations in the Host Cities.”

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Over the next few months, millions of fans in India will get to see the Official Winners’ Trophy ‘in person’ and pose in front of it for photos and selfies.

“This initiative is about bringing the excitement of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Trophy Experience closer to India’s fans in the run up to this milestone competition,” said FIFA’s Chief Commercial Officer Philippe Le Floc’h. “The trophy embodies both the dreams of the best U-17 players in the world and those of millions of Indian fans who will be hosting the football world in October.”

India are placed in Group A hosted by New Delhi and are alongside USA, Ghana, Colombia.

The six venues and the dates for trophy experiences are:

1. New Delhi: 17-22 August
2. Guwahati: 24-29 August
3. Kolkata: 31 August – 5 September
4. Mumbai: 6-10 September
5. Goa: 14-19 September
6. Kochi: 21-26 September

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India to face Mexico, Colombia, Chile

The tournament named as Torneo de 4 Naciones will feature four teams- host Mexico, India, Colombia and Chile.  Indian U-17 World Cup Squad will lock horns against Mexico U-17s tomorrow (August 03, 2017) in the first match at Centro de Alto Rendimiento in Mexico City, Mexico. The kick-off for which is slated for 8:30 PM IST.

There after India will face Colombia on August 04 and Chile on August 06.This tournament will serve as a perfect preparation for the Indian squad to test their strength against world cup qualified teams, one of which will be in their own group. India is grouped in Group A alongside Colombia, Ghana and USA in the world Cup.

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The under-17 team has been heavily backed by the AIFF in an effort to field a strong competitive side for the world Cup. The All India Football Federation has provided the Indian U-17 World Cup Squad with exposure trips all over Europe, Organised tough challenges like BRICS cup etc. Although the performances has been encouraging, winning games hasn’t been a regular sights, with less than 100 days to go for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 in India, the AIFF is leaving no stone unturned to provide maximum exposure to the Indian U-17 World Cup Team.

India has been drawn in Group A of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 India along with USA, Colombia and Ghana. The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 India kicks-off on October 06, 2017.

India’s fixtures in the Torneo de 4 Naciones Tournament:

August 03: India vs Mexico

August 04: India vs Colombia

August 06: India vs Chile

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In a major development regarding the U-17 FIFA World Cup scheduling, DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, which was supposed to host the Group A games has now been replaced with New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, with the former now hosting group B games.

India being the host nation was supposed to be placed in Group A which meant the national team playing their games out of the capital. As a result, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has changed the schedule accordingly but with FIFA and the local organising committee, yet to be informed.

“Initially, we had decided to play the matches at the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai but later changed our plan as the sports ministry too favoured Delhi as the venue,” stated the AIFF general secretary Kushal Das.

FIFA will announce the match schedule on July 7 in Mumbai. According to the schedule, India’s league matches are to be played on October 6, 9 and 12 in Navi Mumbai. The only Group A match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will take place on October 12. If the changes in schedules are approved b FIFA, Delhi will host the Group A matches while Navi Mumbai will be allotted the Group B fixtures.

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Due to high pollution in the city, there were reports suggesting that Delhi would miss out hosting the marquee matches of the prestigious FIFA Under-17 World Cup. The football federation were concerned aboutthe pollution level in the city after Diwali.

With the tournament scheduled to be held from October 6-28, the all-important knock-out games will be held after Diwali, which falls on October 19 this year. So these matches are expected to be held at the other five venues — Navi Mumbai, Margao, Kochi, Guwahati and Kolkata but not Delhi.

The tournament will start on October 6 with a double header in New Delhi and Navi Mumbai. The quarter finals will be in Goa, Guwahati, Kochi and Kolkata, while Guwahati and Navi Mumbai will host the semi finals. The final of the FIFA U-17 World Cup will be held in Kolkata’s iconic Salt Lake Stadium.

Head of FIFA Tournaments, Jaime Yarza said, “The match schedule has been created following a thorough analysis of players’ health, competition format, team movements, weather, local festivities, geography and other factors. Each venue will host at least eight matches, and we took existing infrastructure into account, as well as local enthusiasm when allotting the matches.” It will be interesting to see FIFA’s reaction on this change of Scheduled Venues by AIFF and will the decision stay or not.

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India’s under-17 team, which until last year looked set to storm the world cup and Indian fans with their performances, now seem to have lost their track. After some disappointing results since last year, which includes AFC U-16, BRICS Cup and Granatkin Cup, the Indian Colts German Coach Nicolai Adams was sacked amid reports of player revolts. In the last 18 games, the Under 17 team has managed to win just one and draw two games, losing all others, and now after the recent loss to Minerva colts, the concerns about whether this is the best U-16 team has just caught fire.

Amid these concerns, All India Football Federation Scouting Director Abhishek Yadav, also the COO of the U-17 National Team has said that the process of recruiting players for U-17 World Cup is presently “still on” under U-17 Coach Luis Norton de Matos. “The Coach wants to give opportunity to all the boys who are on trials as we intend to field the strongest Indian Team in the World Cup,” he stated.

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“Prior to leaving for Portugal for the exposure Tour, we are in the process of playing some practice matches in Goa and Norton wants to see as many players possible in those matches,” Yadav continued, “The idea is to see how the new boys (who are on trials) react to match situations and that’s the best manner in which you can judge a player.”

Agree with Abhishek Yadav was the new Coach Matos, who stated “The doors for the India U-17 World Cup stay open till the final day of the registration and I appreciate the efforts of the All India Football Federation in leaving no stone unturned to field the best Indian XI in the World Cup. The efforts are allowing me to see more players and it’s nice to see the Clubs, the League and the AIFF joining hands together for the development of Indian Football,” he added.

While the U-17 player’s road takes a new turn towards the World Cup, a sense of uncertainty seems to be in the air. With another round of exposure trip lurking around, one can just hope that the new coach gets back that winning mentality in the camp before they take on the world.

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According to AIFF media team, the board is surprised and completely denies the report of sacking FIFA U-17 World Cup Team head coach Nicolai Adam.

The reports surfaced after an unsuccessful run of events in the last couple of months by the Under-17 team where Winning games was hard to find. Having finished last in the 16 nation recently concluded XXIX Valentin Granatkin Memorial Cup competition in Russia, and after the 8-0 drubbing against the host in the same event, the call for introspection of the team was evident.

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There were reports that Under 17 players were unhappy with the coach, detesting Nicolai’s coaching, the players refused to function under his reign while also been slammed with alleged charges of physical abuse towards the assistant coach, which prompted the Board to sack Nicolai from the Position. However denying all such reports, AIFF has clearly stated their backing to Nicolai Adams.

According to AIFF reports, “AIFF President Mr. Praful Patel interacted on Tuesday with the coach and the boys discussing the performance of the team as well as the way forward towards preparing a more competitive team for the U-17 World Cup.

The AIFF as the governing body is focussed on the development of the game and unearthing new talents in the Country. It is AIFF’s utmost priority to ensure a proper roadmap for Indian Football and the welfare of the boys.”

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The Team would resume their practice on February 1, 2017 in Goa.

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