The organization of U-17 World Cup in Peru 2023 (from November 10 to December 2) was withdrawn yesterday Monday to Peru, which attributed the “El Niño” climate phenomenon as the explanation for the delay in preparations. The FIFA withdrew the tournament from the South American country because all the infrastructure could not be ready on time. The FIFA Council Bureau must appoint a new host for the competition “as soon as possible,” a statement said.
The world soccer government ruled on “Peru’s inability to meet its commitments in preparing the essential infrastructure for the proper development of the event.”
Peru cites flooding caused by ‘El Niño’ to justify the delays. “The only inconvenience that we reported (to FIFA), and that is known worldwide, is that due to natural disasters it would be impossible to intervene in the Elías Aguirre and Miguel Grau stadiums in the north of the country,” explained the Minister of Education Óscar Becerra, also responsible for sports.
According to Lima, the government proposed that the tournament be held in Lima and Callao, the neighboring port, but its offer was rejected by FIFA. “We have priorities. And the priority right now is to bring aid to the north of the country” affected by rains and floods, added the minister.
Good relations with the Federation
FIFA emphasizes that it has “very good relations” with the Peruvian federation (FPF), thanked “their effort” and “naturally remains open to holding a competition in this country in the future.”
On Wednesday, FIFA already withdrew the organization of the U-20 World Cup (May 20 to June 11) from Indonesia, this time for political reasons, because the governors of two provinces of the archipelago wanted to prohibit the participation of the Israeli team.
read also