The stadiums that FIFA inspected for the U20 World Cup in Argentina

What was a fact is now official: the Sub 20 world will be held in Argentina within 33 days. The certainty that FIFA delivered in its statement came with the news that the draw will be held next Friday the 21st in Switzerland but without confirmation of the venues. There is no precise data so far that indicates when the stadiums that will be used during the competition will be announced, but everything indicates that this decision will be made at the latest on the following Monday, April 24.

To be concise: AFA proposes and FIFA has. The mother house of Argentine soccer delivered a proposal with a certain number of cities suitable to host the event. The information changes minute by minute, which is why no one dares to risk in which venues the event will take place between Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, June 11.

The certainties that are on the table indicate that San Juan, Mendoza, Santiago del Estero, saint Louis, Chaco y At payment received a technical visit from FIFA in recent days, as he was able to confirm infobae. The delegation of 12 people with specialists for each area landed last Wednesday in the country to inspect hotel capacity, training centers and details of each stadium in those places. They analyzed each place and suggested the necessary reforms taking into account that it will be an emergency World Cup, so everything must be in order in a month.

The Rioja, which in the last hours had made a loud noise to receive the FIFA entourage, finally did not have the expected inspection: it is out of the plan for the moment. The magnifying glass at this time is on Córdoba, one of the most significant venues in the country that entered a loop of confusion throughout this week. He Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium It sounded like one of the main and obvious ones for the competition, but an internal disagreement took him out of the race.

Although there was a certain positive outlook on the possibility of the learned, the reality is that today it is off the World Cup map. FIFA did not disembark with its people to analyze the place and there is a debate about the reasons. On the one hand, they suggest that Córdoba demanded to receive the final or the inauguration. On the other hand, they categorically deny such demand over and over again: they assure that Talleres has an agreement to play in the Kempes and they depended on a special permission from FIFA to receive the competition.

“It could not be six venues,” he analyzed before infobae a source familiar with the organization. The uncertainty on the subject is complemented by the data that arrives from the North of the country in the midst of the silence of the officials before the consultations of this medium. They would not have finally visited the Father Martearena Stadium de Salta, which also appeared as one of the possible ones.

While waiting for FIFA’s decision, logic indicates today that the Diego Armando Maradona Unique Stadium de La Plata will be home to the grand finale on Sunday, June 11. Will Santiago del Estero have the opening match on Saturday, May 20? “They were very satisfied with the stadium”, they limited themselves to clarifying those who had access to that visit through the Unique Mother of Cities from that province, without confirming or denying that they could have an outstanding World Cup match.

After all, next Friday, April 21 in Switzerland, the draw for the competition will take place, which will begin a month later. Argentina, as usual, will be as A1. That is, seeded head of the initial group. If the tradition continues, Javier Mascherano’s Sub 20 team will debut on Saturday May 20 in the initial game.

“In this technical visit that we have had, which ends today, FIFA members have not only been able to visit the stadiums where the games will be played and they will surely be the venues. But also the training camps that our institutions have so that the world teams can train,” he said. chiki Tapia at the signing of guarantees with the government on Monday morning.

The venues in the race are the Unique Diego Armando Maradona of At payment, Bicentennial of San Juan, Unique Mothers of Cities of Santiago del Estero, The stone of saint Louis, Argentine Falklands of Mendoza y Centenary of resistance in Chaco. The press conference held by the AFA and FIFA authorities at the Ezeiza property this Monday left a detail on the table: four venues would be designated and the first three mentioned seem to have one foot inside the organization chart.

The Bicentennial of San Juan, one of the names that sounds strong (Photo: Reuters / Agustin Marcarian)

It is worth remembering that article 19 of the tournament regulations indicates that the stadiums must be released from the two weeks prior to the start (May 5) and until the day after the World Cup final. For this reason, many prominent venues of CABA, Santa Fe o Rosario They could not enter the dispute because they belong to clubs that will be in full action during the tournament. Cases similar to what was previously mentioned with the Kempes of Córdobawhich despite being state-owned has an agreement for Talleres to play its competitions there.

Chance, then, will define next Friday where the 24 qualifiers for the tournament will be located. FIFA technical employees who were in La Plata this morning as the last stop must submit a report and detail which are the most suitable venues to host the competition.

Source: Infobae