Lok Sabha Question No. 2042 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-27
Subject: FIFA U-17 World Cup
Ministry: YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS
Asked by: SUNIL BALIRAM GAIKWAD, VIJAY KUMAR S.R., GAJANAN CHANDRAKANT KIRTIKAR, ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN, KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH, SUDHEER GUPTA, BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO, T. RADHAKRISHNAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF YOUTH AFFAIRS & SPORTS (DEPARTMENT OF SPORTS) LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2042 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.07.2017

## FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP

2042. DR. SUNIL BALIRAM GAIKWAD:

SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN:

KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN:

Will the Minister of YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  organize  FIFA  U-17  World Cup and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of countries likely to participate in the said tournament;
- (c) the details of facilities provided by the Government to the Indian players, coaches and support  staff to meet thechallenges of the said tournament;
- (d) the details of FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ranking of the Indian National Football Team at present;
- (e)  the  details  of  the  preparedness  of  Indian  team  for  the  said tournament; and

(f)  the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  promote  the football games across the country?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)

## FOR YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS (SHRI VIJAY GOEL)

(a): Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has awarded FIFA  Under  -  17  Football  World  Cup  2017  to  India.  The  tournament  is being  organized  on  behalf  of  FIFA  by  Local  Organizing  Committee comprising  of,  inter-alia,  officials  of  Government  of  India  and  All  India Football Federation (AIFF). It will be played from October 6 to October 28, 2017 in six Cities viz. Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Navi Mumbai and New Delhi. Government of India is supporting the said event.

- (b):  Twenty Four countries will be participating in the  FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 as per list given in the Annexure.

(c):  The  Ministry  of  Youth  Affairs  &  Sports  through  Sports  Authority  of India  has  allocated  Rs  15.00  crore  to  All  India  Football  Federation (National Sports Federation for Football in India) during last two years for the customized training under expert coaches, competition exposure in domestic & abroad, Sports Sciences back-up including dedicated support staff  such  as  Medical  doctor,  Physiotherapist,  Masseur,  Nutritionist, Mental  trainer  and  administrative  support  staff  etc.,  for  preparation  of Indian  team  for  the  U17  Football  World  Cup  India  2017.  So  far  an expenditure of Rs. 13.76 crore has been incurred on the above account.

(d):  As  per  information  provided  by  AIFF,  present  FIFA  and  Asian Football  Confederation  (AFC)  ranking  of  the  Indian  National  Football Team as on 17 th  July 2017 is as follows:

FIFA Ranking Men's Team: 96

AFC Ranking Men's Team: 12

- (e) As per information provided by AIFF, as part of the preparation, the Indian team is in a transit camp in New Delhi from 16 th  to 26 th  July 2017

enroute  to  Mexico  for  their  participation  in  a  4  nation  Tournament organized by Mexican Football Association, where Chile, Colombia and Mexico are the other 3 participants. An  International  friendly  match  against  Australian  U-17  team  and  a couple  of  matches  with  preparatory  training  in  Australia  are  planned from  20 th   August  to  4 th   September  2017.  The  Indian  team  will  play  a couple  of  International  friendly  matches  in  India  with  teams  of  other groups on return to India in the first week of Sept. 2017 till 5 th  Oct. 2017.

(f):  Government  is  promoting  Football  through  an  outreach  programme called 'Mission XI Million' in association with All India Football Federation  (AIFF)  and  Federation  International  de  Football  Association (FIFA). The programme was officially inaugurated on 10 th  February, 2017. This programme envisages targeting boys and girls between the ages of 10  and  18  years  across  India  in  around  15,000  schools  to  reach  to  11 Million students mark by September 2017 before the FIFA U-17 World Cup being  hosted  by  India.  Around  8,800  schools  and  5.6  Million  students have already been covered under the said program.

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ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  Part  (b)  of  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2042 FOR ANSWER ON 27.07.2017 REGARDING FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP BY DR. SUNIL BALIRAM GAIKWAD AND OTHERS

List of countries participating in FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 is as follows:-

|   S.No. | Country       |   S.No. | Country    |
|---------|---------------|---------|------------|
|       1 | India         |      13 | France     |
|       2 | Iran          |      14 | Germany    |
|       3 | Iraq          |      15 | Spain      |
|       4 | Japan         |      16 | Turkey     |
|       5 | North Korea   |      17 | Costa Rica |
|       6 | New Caledonia |      18 | Honduras   |
|       7 | New Zealand   |      19 | Mexico     |
|       8 | Ghana         |      20 | USA        |
|       9 | Guinea        |      21 | Brazil     |
|      10 | Mali          |      22 | Chile      |
|      11 | Niger         |      23 | Colombia   |
|      12 | England       |      24 | Paraguay   |