CHENNAI: The 2020 U-17 Women's World Cup, which was left in limbo following the coronavirus outbreak, has been given a fresh lease of life with the announcement of new dates. The tournament, to be hosted across five cities in the country, will now be held between February 17 and March 7 next year.
The decision was taken by the Bureau of FIFA Council, acting on the recommendations of the FIFA-Confederations COVID-19 Working Group. The tournament had earlier been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic making the holding of qualifying tournaments for the U17 WWC impossible.
"The dates were confirmed after taking into account the time needed to complete the UEFA, CONCACAF, CAF, OFC, and CONMEBOL qualification tournaments as well as the best possible conditions in the country to host a successful FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup," said a statement by the Local Organising Committee of the tournament. "We are now looking ahead and hoping to host a wonderful tournament that will give women’s football in India, the perfect platform to grow and develop."
There is good news for the India team though as FIFA has decided not to change the eligibility criteria for the players.
"...tournament to keep original eligibility criteria: players born on or after 1 January 2000 and on or before 31 December 2004," said the FIFA statement.
This means that the present India U-17 women's team, put together after nearly two years of scouting and exposure tours, will be eligible to participate in the tournament.
For the tournament organisers, the challenge starts afresh with the rescheduling posing logistical issues for the organisers. Hotel bookings and flight tickets will now have to be made afresh.
The decision will affect how the regular football season is conducted in the country with three of the five stadiums earmarked for the tournament home to Indian Super League clubs.
The franchise created as a result of the ATK-Mohun Bagan merger play at the Salt Lake Stadium, while NorthEast United play at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Guwahati. Odisha FC play at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. The other stadiums for the U-17 WWC are the EKA Arena in Ahmedabad and the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
League officials will either have to schedule in a break during the period or plan matches in such a way that the aforementioned stadiums don't host any ISL matches during this period.