A day after the failure to provide basic food and water for school children and other fans at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium made headlines, a blame game ensued between the local organising committee (LOC) and the Union sports ministry, which is providing the infrastructure and funding along with Sports Authority of India (SAI). Both the committee and the sports ministry tried to pass the buck to each other.
The school children, brought in by the ministry from neighbouring Haryana, went thirsty for hours in Delhi's heat ahead of host India's debut on the world stage against United States on Friday night. As many as 15,000 children, who were brought over from schools in Sonepat and Jhajjar of Haryana, were not offered food and water on time due to security reasons. The stadium and all the area surrounding it was put under heavy security net as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first ever football world cup of any age group to be hosted by India.
The local organising committee and SAI/Union sports ministry had an understanding according to which tickets would be provided by the LOC for school children while their travel, food and water provisions would be taken care of by the ministry.
It is reliably learnt that after outrage on social media and post stinging criticism by media, the local organising committee met late on Friday night after the match got over. FIFA, to which the LOC reports, too came under heavy criticism for poor amenities in the 50,000 seater stadium.
After meetings and back and forth between LOC, government officials and All India Football Federation (AIFF), LOC issued a statement on Saturday late evening. "We know that there were issues with the distribution of water for the first match day of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 in New Delhi. There was a provision made by the stadium, as providing drinking water is the responsibility of the facility owner, but there was a lapse on the distribution. " The facility owner in this case is SAI.
The LOC further stated, "We will be working as hard as possible with all facility owners to ensure that drinking water is readily available for all spectators from here on."
While there was no official word or statement from the sports minister, officials expressed anger at the manner in which arrangements were not done by organisers. "LOC knew very well in advance that PM was coming. It was also well aware of security requirements. They should have made arrangements in advance, assured that food packets came in early. The security agencies too should have known that school kids are present inside," said a senior ministry official.
The actual host—the AIFF which won the bid to host the World Cup—has completely washed its hands of saying its the LOC's headache. There appears to be a major ego issue simmering between the LOC and AIFF whose officials direct all queries posed to it towards LOC.
