Over 1,20,000 children to attend matches at U-17 Women's World Cup, reveals FIFA

On Monday (October 17), FIFA has made a big claim that in excess of one lakh children will be attending matches in the ongoing U-17 Women's World Cup, being held in India (in Bhubaneswar, Margao and Navi Mumbai).Nandini Arora, one of the Project Directors of the marquee tournament, claimed that the showpiece event will see to 1,20,000 kids witnessing the proceedings live.

"We must thank the local municipal bodies in each of the host cities, the police and the teachers accompanying these children for helping us pull off this wonderful initiative, that in total will see close to 120,000 kids get to watch a match from a stadium," said Arora.

Meanwhile, FIFA also reacted to the major development and shareda statement claiming that thousands of children have enjoyed some world-class footballing action and many more will also be able to do the same in the coming days. It goes without saying that such an initiative will help many young football fans get further inspired from the overall atmosphere. Overall, the tournament will be able to attract more eyeballs among the younger lot.

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'Thousands of young children across the three venues...'

FIFA, in a statement, stated, "The presence of a special set of fans seen consistently cheering from the stands - young boys and girls - has been facilitated by a special community engagement initiative undertaken jointly by the tournament's Local Organising Committee and FIFA. Thousands of young children across the three venues have enjoyed some world-class footballing action, and many more will get a chance to do the same in the coming days."

Meanwhile, the FIFA Director of Tournaments Jaime Yarza pointed out, "The matches where the kids are dancing, celebrating, and laughing created the pictures of the day for me."

He added, "It was a hard time for a lot of people, especially for those who were here for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017. Having experienced the passion that we did back then, it was hard to be unsure if it (the 2022 tournament) could happen in India. So, now seeing the games being played, it's a real pleasure for all of us."