He further expanded on the importance of the football infrastructure being created as a legacy for the tournament and asked every football lover around the country to become an ambassador for this important tournament.
The Tournament Director of the Local Organising Committee for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 (LOC), Javier Ceppi said , “this is the culmination of eighteen months of hard work and close cooperation with the Government of India. The LOC had already been assured of the full support of the honourable Prime Minister for the Tournament, but we are delighted that he has also taken it as a personal mission in his very own radio programme to take the football revolution to every nook and corner of the nation.”
According to AIFF General Secretary, Kushal Das, “This is great news, not just for the World Cup, but for Indian football. The Prime Minister’s personal endorsement has come at the perfect time and will really help the game make a quantum leap in support and performance in India over the next few years. This is the ideal Tournament to make a difference, because it targets the youth of the nation, and we must be able to galvanize the youth of India into the larger goal of changing football in our country.
National captain and star striker Sunil Chettri also urged all stakeholders to follow the lead of the Prime Minister. In his words, “We need 200% support for all efforts in improving the standards of football around the country.’
