KOCHI: It does not matter who's playing who, but the stadium will be filled with bright yellow jerseys and flags of Brazil. Such was the sight for the Spain-Niger clash - the first of the second leg matches of Fifa U-17 World Cup at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi on Tuesday.In the first match, the Brazil fans cheered the tiki-taka moves of Spain, one of the favourites in this tournament before the Latin American contingent played against DPR Korea in the second match.
Spaniards notched a massive 4-0 victory over Niger while Brazil defeated DPR Korea 2-0 and ensured a pre-quarter berth. Despite tickets being ‘sold out’, only 7926 fans- less than one-third of the official capacity of the stadium, turned up for the Spain-Niger match; raising doubts on how many tickets had actually gone on sale. The number slightly increased for the second match between Brazil and DPR Korea. The official capacity of the Kaloor Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for this tournament is 29,200 after Fifa cut down seats owing to security reasons.
"Did a large number of fans who had bought tickets online not turn up for the matches?", asked Bony Jose from Thodupuzha. According to him, only fans from places around Kochi came to watch the matches while people from northern districts, famous for their football frenzy, kept away. During the final minutes, a lion's share of the spectators left the venue. "We came to watch Brazil's match and enjoyed both the games", said Praveen Kumar, a fan.
LMD officers deployed to prevent overpricing
Kochi: As it decided, the Legal Metrology Department (LMD) has deployed additional officers inside the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, the venue of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, to prevent food and beverages suppliers from fleecing fans turning up to watch the games.
Government keeps its promise
As promised, the state government has distributed potable water to the spectators at Kaloor Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. "We have set up 750 jars of potable water at 40 points in the stadium. About 15,000 litres of water was supplied in the first match", said Fifa U-17 World Cup nodal officer A P M Mohammed Haneesh.