Pitches at all venues upgraded, LOC says ready for AFC Women's Asian Cup

And now, we cannot wait for the teams to come to India and play their best game, added Patel.In Pune, new training facilities were reconstructed for the tournament while the pitch at the Balewadi stadium has been upgraded, and new floodlights installed.Two additional practice pitches have also been constructed to cater to the tournament.

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the upcoming AFC Women's Asian Cup on Monday expressed its readiness to stage the continent's marquee football competition, having, among others, upgraded the pitches of all the venues.

The tournament, which has got special exemption from the Maharashtra government, kicks off in three venues across the sate on January 20. All India Football Federation (AIFF) president and LOC chairman Praful Patel said that all the facilities to be used for the premier tournament are ''ready''.

''All facilities to be used for the prestigious AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022 are ready. Special care has been taken to make sure the best women footballers in Asia are provided with world class infrastructure across the three venues and also the training sites,'' Patel said in a statement.

According to Patel, pitches at all the three venues -- Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune, DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai and Mumbai Football Arena in suburban Andheri in Mumbai -- have been upgraded.

''The pitches at all venues have been significantly upgraded to support modern football. Other facilities including dressing rooms, media tribunes, broadcast compounds and hospitality areas have been refurbished.

''In Pune, new floodlights with LED panels have been installed. And now, we cannot wait for the teams to come to India and play their best game,'' added Patel.

In Pune, new training facilities were reconstructed for the tournament while the pitch at the Balewadi stadium has been upgraded, and new floodlights installed.

Two additional practice pitches have also been constructed to cater to the tournament. Apart from that the team dressing rooms, hospitality areas and the media tribune have been upgraded, the statement said.

The D.Y. Patil Stadium, where the final will be played on February 6, has seen renovation of floodlights while the pitch has been upgraded to meet international standards.

DY Patil in the past had hosted matches of the FIFA U-17 football World Cup, back in 2017.

The Navi Mumbai Sports Association (NMSA) training ground and the Yashwantrao Chavan Ground in Navi Mumbai have revamped their dressing rooms and both training grounds have been upgraded with new, modern facilities.

Moreover, two training grounds have been built at the CIDCO Centre of Excellence in Navi Mumbai, increasing the training pitches to six for the teams in the tournament.

The pitch at the Mumbai Football Arena stadium, which has hosted several matches in the past, has also been upgraded including its dressing rooms, hospitality area, referee rooms and media tribune. A total of 12 teams, which have been divided in three groups, will battle for the top prize in the showpiece with the top five finishers joining the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup co-hosts Australia. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Sports Commissioner Om Prakash Bakoria told PTI that power would be saved at the Pune stadium after installation of new LED lights.

''We had 416 metal halide lights at the stadium and we have completely changed that, and we have shifted those lights to the one of the practise pitches at the venue and we are installing new LD lights at the other practise pitches,'' the senior official said.

It is also learnt that earlier 832 KW power was consumed and now only 326 KW power will be utilised with the installation of new LED lights at the Pune stadium.

Maharashtra grants special permission to host tournament ------------------------------------------------------------------ Despite the rising COVID-19 cases in the state, the Maharashtra government, which has issued a fresh set of restrictions, has granted special permission to host the AFC tournament.

The order signed by the state's chief secretary Debashish Chakrabarty, a copy of which is in possession of PTI, stated that, ''Sporting Competitive Events -- to be deferred, except for national and international level competitions already scheduled.'' The order also lists out the measures needed for hosting the tournament like having RT-PCR tests and setting up a bio bubble.

A senior state sports department official said that the order paves the way for hosting of the tournament.

He said that all rules related to COVID-19 will be strictly adhered to.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)