News of India’s bid to host the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup might have dominated airwaves in recent days but passing under the radar was an equally audacious bid by the AIFF to host the 2017 Beach Soccer World Cup.
FIFA sources revealed to Express on Friday that India was one of the ten countries that had expressed an interest in hosting the Beach Soccer World Cup in 2017. “India has expressed an interest in hosting the event. Argentina, Bahrain, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Israel, Mexico, Seychelles, South Africa and Turkey are the other countries that have expressed an interest. A decision on the hosts will be announced along with that of the 2017 U-17 World Cup in December,” they said.
But football enthusiasts in the country harbouring any hopes of seeing two big FIFA events held in the country in the same year are likely to be disappointed. While sources within the AIFF confirmed that they had indeed expressed an interest in hosting the event, it was highly unlikely that they would submit a bid document by November 15 as FIFA regulations state. “We did express an interest and we contacted FIFA to know what requirements were to be met in order to host the event. But it is highly unlikely that we will submit the bid document as we have decided to focus on the U-17 World Cup,” said an AIFF official.
Even if the AIFF were to change their minds, India stands little chance of hosting the event, with the country having a non-existent pedigree in beach soccer. The Indian beach soccer team has never won a match in its history. It participated in the 2007 AFC Beach Soccer Championship and the 2008 Asian Beach Games but finished bottom of the pile on both occasions.