AIFF frets over stadium rent for U-17 World Cup

New Delhi, Having bagged the right to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is now worried about the hefty rent it might have to pay the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to use the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium for matches in Delhi.The JLN stadium belongs to the SAI and the recently-concluded Indian Super League (ISL) organisers had to shell out a whopping Rs 3.5 crore to use the facility for the entire duration of the tournament, including holding the Delhi Dynamos FC’s home matches and practice sessions.The ISL organisers ended up paying Rs 5 lakh per day for more than two months to use the multi-purpose stadium, and the AIFF officials are fretting over the prospect of shelling out a similar amount to the SAI.The AIFF has contended that the ISL, promoted by IMG-Reliance, was a privately-organised league, while the U-17 World Cup is a prestigious tournament involving the junior national side.Delhi will host six matches of the World Cup, apart from various other promotional activities at the JLN stadium. AIFF wants the stadium for a month, but if the SAI remains adamant about its demand, then the national federation might end up paying Rs 1.5 crore as rent. “We want the JLN stadium for a month, but the SAI is demanding Rs 5 lakh per day which means we need to pay Rs 1.5 crore to them. This would create a lot of financial burden on us,” AIFF secretary general Kushal Das told The Tribune.“We have raised this issue with the senior officials of the SAI and they have agreed to look into our demands. We are hopeful of a solution because we can’t pay them this much amount as rent. We want the stadium one month prior to the start of the event,” he added.Another AIFF official informed that the football’s world governing body has expressed its unhappiness over the SAI demanding such a hefty rent for hosting the first major tournament on the nation’s soil.When contacted, SAI Secretary Neeraj Kansal said, “We will surely look into their demands and work out a solution. We would like to assure the AIFF that they need not worry about the rent.”As per the bid, eight cities — New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Margao, Kochi, Pune and Guwahati — are in line to be the venues of the tournament.