The FIFA U-17 World Cup semifinal game between England and Brazil, which was scheduled to be held at the Indira Gandhi Athletic stadium in Guwahati has been shifted to Kolkata, FIFA has confirmed.
After continuous rain battered the pitch for the quarterfinal on Saturday, the football body made a thorough assessment of the pitch ahead of Wednesday’s semifinal and decided to move the venue after further rains were forecast.
The match will be held on the same day and time, but at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Kirangan stadium in Kolkata instead.
FIFA’s statement said: “Despite the great efforts by all involved parties, including the authorities of State Government of Assam, to preserve the pitch, FIFA has taken this decision following consultations with both teams in order to safeguard the players’ health and to ensure the best playing conditions.”
The two teams had arrived in Guwahati in the morning, and were supposed to have training sessions today. Both teams cancelled their sessions and will head for Kolkata tonight.
On Saturday, Mali had beaten Ghana 2-1 in the quarterfinal, but both teams had to toil on the waterlogged ground. The pitch was in poor condition after the downpour began 48 hours before kick-off, but the referees decided to go ahead with the match anyway.
The pitch got worse as the game wore on and the rain showed no signs of stopping. Several players were injured as they trudged on but the referee did not halt the game. The game had to be played, and completed, as it was hard to predict whether the rains would cease in the coming days.
Ghana coach Samuel Fabin expressed his displeasure at the press conference, saying that he thought the game should have been abandoned and played at another time. "We’ve not encountered anything like this before... those who are organising said we have to play, so we played," he said.
The weather improved after the game and there was only a brief spell of rain this afternoon, but the forecast for the next couple of days in the Assamese city did not look good.
While tickets for those at Guwahati will be refunded, all tickets for the rescheduled game are being sold on the FIFA website for a price of 100 rupees, made available on a first come first serve basis.
England had beat USA 4-1 in the quarterfinal and Brazil scripted a historic comeback to beat Germany 2-1. Spain and Mali will play the other semifinal in Navi Mumbai.
