New Delhi: The six-city trophy tour for the FIFA U-17 World Cup will begin in the national capital from August 17, the local organising committee announced today.
The tour will cover almost 9,000 km over a period of 40 days between August 17 and September 26.
Fans will be able to see the trophy in the six host cities starting with New Delhi, where India will be playing their group matches.
The silverware will be on display here from August 17 to 22.
Guwahati (August 24-29) will be next stop followed by Kolkata, which will host the final, between August 31 to September 5.
The tour will continue in between September 6 and 10, while it is scheduled to be on view in Goa from September 14 to 19.
The final destination will be Kochi, where the trophy will be on display from September 21 till 26.
India will be hosting its first FIFA tournament from October 6 to 28.
Describing the event, chairman of the LOC Praful Patel said: “The trophy experience will mark the last phase of our event promotion and it is very important, because it will give the fans around the country the opportunity to get up close to the same official winner’s trophy that the captain of the winning team of the FIFA U-17 World Cup will be lifting on 28 October in Kolkata.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance and we hope that people can come in large numbers to the display locations in the host cities.”
Over the next few months, millions of fans in India will get to witness the trophy from close.
“This initiative is about bringing the excitement of the FIFA U-17 World Cup trophy experience closer to India’s fans in the run up to this milestone competition.
“The trophy embodies both the dreams of the best U-17 players in the world and those of millions of Indian fans who will be hosting the football world in October,” commented FIFA Chief Commercial Officer Philippe Le Floc’h.
