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India officially submits bid to host 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

Inaki Alvarez (FIFA Deputy Director and Head of Event Management Competitions Division), Sunando Dhar (Airtel I-League CEO) and Mustapha Fahmy (FIFA Director of Competitions Division)

Inaki Alvarez (FIFA Deputy Director and Head of Event Management Competitions Division), Sunando Dhar (Airtel I-League CEO) and Mustapha Fahmy (FIFA Director of Competitions Division)

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has confirmed that India has submitted its bid to host the prestigious 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

“We are happy that we could submit all the necessary bid documents before the deadline,” AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das told AIFF Media.

“I am grateful to our President Mr. (Praful) Patel for the initiative taken in following up with the Government in terms of the guarantees required, and ensuring the all the guarantees were ready and could be submitted in time,” added Das.

Airtel I-League CEO Sunando Dhar submitted the bid documents to FIFA’s Director of Competitions Division Mustapha Fahmy at the FIFA Headquarters in Zurich on Tuesday.

“I was at Zurich to submit our bid documents for hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017. The bid will be taken up in the FIFA Executive Committee meeting on December 3,” Dhar confirmed.

“FIFA was very happy to receive the guarantees from the Government and the official bid from AIFF. We are eagerly waiting for the final verdict now,” he added.

Other nations competing for the bid include Uzbekistan, Ireland and the 2010 World Cup host South Africa.

(Report & Picture courtesy AIFF Media)