Abu Dhabi: A Fifa delegation has arrived in the capital on a three-day visit to oversee UAE’s preparation for the Fifa Club World Cup scheduled to be held here in December.
Representatives from Fifa departments including competitions, media, TV, security, marketing, VIP and IT will be assessing the stadiums, training facilities and hotel arrangement for the participating teams.
On Wednesday, the delegates visited the Zayed Sports City Stadium, which is currently undergoing a facelift.
“We are pretty much happy with what we have seen so far. For us in this inspection, the most important thing obviously is the stadiums, training sites and the team hotels. When the teams come here, it is important that the facilities are of very high standard,” said group leader of the Fifa tournament Rhiannon Martin.
“We will be taking a look at venues in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. We will also be looking at the training sites as well and the facilities for the referees,” revealed Martin, adding that the local organising committee (LOC) is well aware of Fifa requirements and they will be passing on their input at the end of the visit to ensure everything works out correctly.
To make sure that the pitches are top class for the matches, Fifa will be sending an independent pitch specialist to the UAE.
“We noticed here that there are some very good pitch managers here but we will also be sending a pitch specialist. We send them usually to every Fifa competition that we organise and will then work hand in hand not just on the pitch maintenance and renovation beforehand, but also discuss about how to maintain the pitches to a high quality during the competition as well,” said Martin, who also went on to reveal that the main focus will also be on making sure that the stadiums are full during the competition.
“What is really important for us is to have full stadiums, to have a lot of fans coming in and enjoying football. Support the clubs who are here and bring in a real good atmosphere. I think it is very important that the LOC works closely with schools, universities and local football communities to ensure that this happens,” asserted Martin, revealing that they had a first round of meeting with the LOC.
“People were very happy with what they have seen, there is some fine-tuning to be done of course, but on the whole it is quite positive at the moment. Everything is on track and we got very clear project schedule which we work very closely with the LOC not just for infrastructure but also for different concepts, and at the moment it is looking very good,” said Martin.
Though this is the third time the event will be staged here in the UAE, from the time it was organised first in 2009 and 2010, things have changed a lot and one of the key elements is technological advancement, Martin said.
“Technology is the change, even as a media you are asking for more. Before it was only a computer and now it is computer-plus-WiFi. Technology is a big thing in competition today and so stadiums have to be upgraded with the latest technology,” said Martin, adding that they will be doing a similar visit again in October with the teams who would have qualified by then for their final inputs.
“We will be coming back probably in October and that will be together with the teams. We will have the draw, team workshop and team venue visits so that they can go and check out the team hotels, training sites and the stadiums,” said Martin, who was pleased with the capacity of the Zayed Sports City and Hazza Bin Zayed Stadiums.
“I think 43,000 and 23,000 approximately for the stadiums is very good. Hopefully, they will be full. There is a lot of work going on at the moment here at Zayed Sports City. There is still some minor work to be done, but it’s looking good. I think this venue will be a very good host for the final of the competition,” Martin added.
