FIFA U-17 World Cup may move out of Delhi

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New Delhi, Feb 22: Delhi, the capital city of India, may lose out on the opportunity to host the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup which is scheduled to start from October 6.

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FIFA had awarded India the opportunity to host the tournament in 2013 and 6 venues across the country were chosen. Delhi, Goa, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kochi and Guwahati are the six cities which were chosen as the possible venues.

But suddenly doubts have been raised over Delhi's chances of hosting the matches due to the air pollution the city has experienced in recent times.

According to the Times of India, Javier Ceppi, the tournament director said: "The match schedule is not finalised yet. One of the reasons for that is the pollution. And pollution in Delhi is a serious concern.

"You cannot reduce pollution from one day to the next, to the amount that would need to be reduced for hosting games."

In 2016, Delhi's air pollution situation got highlighted especially during the festival of Diwali. The situation got worse when the burning of crop stubble after the harvest in neighbouring agricultural areas affected it further.

Schools were closed and constructions were stopped temporarily in the city to improve the situation.

While the Smog has already brought enough shame to the city last year, the withdrawal of the U-17 World Cup will be a further insult to India's capital.

OneIndia News