The Dominican Republic is gearing up to host the FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup in just one month. The global football event will be held 16 October through 3 November with the participation of 16 teams in venues in Santo Domingo and Santiago de los Caballeros.
This will be only the second time a Caribbean nation has hosted a FIFA World Cup, following Trinidad and Tobago in 2010, Diario Libre reports.
The tournament is projected to generate 28,000 bed nights and require a logistics operation involving over 700 people, including 500 volunteers. It will also leave a lasting legacy, significantly improving the country’s football infrastructure.
While Santo Domingo and Santiago will serve as the main venues, the tournament’s impact has been felt nationwide. Ten facilities, from Parque del Este in Santo Domingo to La Barranquita in Santiago, have been upgraded to FIFA standards to accommodate training sessions.
With the tournament just weeks away, the organizing committee has been working tirelessly. Lidia Rojas, a FIFA project manager from Costa Rica, has been instrumental in ensuring everything is on track.
“Everything has been done faster than expected,” Rojas said. “What would normally take two years has been accomplished in six months.”
The FIFA project manager highlighted the potential impact of the tournament on women’s football in the Dominican Republic. “I’ve seen the impact a World Cup can have on women’s football,” she said. “Ten years ago, women’s football in Costa Rica wasn’t well-developed. But the World Cup changed that.”
The tournament is expected to leave a lasting legacy, not only in terms of infrastructure but also in terms of knowledge transfer. FIFA has donated state-of-the-art equipment and provided technical expertise.
Benny Metz, the Dominican Republic’s Deputy Minister of the Presidency and National Football Commissioner, emphasized the government’s commitment to the tournament. “We saw this as an opportunity for football to grow,” he told Diario Libre.
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Diario Libre
U-17 FIFA World Cup
Schedule of games U-17 FIFA World Cup
17 September 2024