Salt Lake Stadium handed over to FIFA U-17 World Cup

Kolkata: The refurbished Salt Lake Stadium, which will host the fianl of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, was today handed over to the event's Local Organisning Committee.

Giving it a 10/10 rating, LOC tournament director Javier Ceppi said the revamped stadium is at par with any world-class venue that has hosted a FIFA World Cup final.

"If you ask me it looks like a museum, be the entrance or the inside. Or like the teams said it looks the lobby of a five-star hotel," Ceppi said, thanking West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for getting the work done in two and half years' time.

"You see and the stadium looks nothing like it used to before. That's because the stadium needed to be fit to host a World Cup final, the most important football match to be hosted in India's history."

"They (West Bengal government) took the challenge. This stadium now can be compared to other stadiums in the world that have hosted a FIFA World Cup final."

The revamp of the stadium, formally known as Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan, which was taken up on February 1, 2015, cost the West Bengal government more than Rs 100 crore.

Banerjee will formally inaugurate the stadium from Uttar Kanya, the branch Secretariat of Government of West Bengal in Siliguri, North Bengal, on September 12.

Originally a 120,000 capacity stadium, the YBK is now reduced to an official 66687 for the World Cup after FIFA enforced a guideline following a study with the Sports Grounds Safety Authority of the UK.

"It's not a single person more. That's the capacity of the stadium for a safe evacuation for every part and every spectator of the stadium within eight minutes," Ceppi said.

However, the stadium can accommodate about 80000.The stadium is 98 percent complete and Ceppi said it's their responsibility to take it to the next level.

"Now, we need the transition from a museum to a football stadium to host the World Cup. It's not major work but just two or three things," Ceppi said.