FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter praised "the organizational work done in Azerbaijan for the Women's U-17 World Football Cup.
"This championship is organized at the same high level as other similar competitions of FIFA," Blatter said at a news conference at the Four Seasons Hotel today. He stressed that Azerbaijan has fulfilled all the requirements of FIFA.
Blatter expressed his satisfaction with the prepared infrastructure. He was particularly impressed with the games in small stadiums.
"It is better to carry out games in small stadiums filled than in half-empty large arenas. In Japan, during the U-20 world championship, we once again made sure it is inappropriate to use large stadiums for such events," said Blatter.
He welcomed the personal support of the championship organization by the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Blatter described the current U-17 World Cup as an important historical event in terms of development of women's football, noting that the championship is held in a new geographic region.
The opening of the World Cup will be unique with the show prepared by Cirque du Soleil. In addition, the audience will meet the international star Jennifer Lopez, continued Blatter.
Assessing the chances of Azerbaijan to hold Euro 2020 together with Georgia, Blatter said that this is not the first time Azerbaijan has taken initiative to host such a big competition. In this sense, the current championship is a good opportunity to demonstrate the infrastructure and ability to hold international tournaments. "This is a kind of rehearsal," said Blatter.
When asked about the chances of the team of Azerbaijan, Blatter did not assess them, saying that he saw "a few friendly games." However, he stressed that things will not be easy for all the teams.
In his turn, AFFA President Rovnag Abdullayev expressed hope that the Azerbaijani football player girls will play at a high level.
A representative of FIFA, Tatiana Jaen, when asked about the favorites, said that football is beautiful for its unpredictability.
Note that in the league there are 16 teams taking part in 4 groups:
A) Azerbaijan, Colombia, Nigeria, and Canada;
B) France, United States, North Korea and Gambia;
C) Mexico, New Zealand, Brazil, and Japan;
D), Uruguay, China, Ghana and Germany.
Teams that have won the first two places in the group will continue to compete in the quarterfinal games, the winners of which will meet in the semi-final matches, which will determine the finalists.
The competition will end on October 13.
The games will be held at 6 stadiums (five in Baku and one in Lankaran).
On September 22 the first games will be held: Nigeria - Canada and Azerbaijan - Colombia.
Note that this is the third world championship for girls up to 17 years of age. -06D-
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