Erick Thohir: Preparations For The Opening Of The U-17 World Cup Smoothly And All Venues For Entertainment

JAKARTA - The 2023 U-17 World Cup will start from November 10 to December 2 in four cities in Indonesia. Ahead of the opening which is only a few days away, Erick Thohir ensures that the opening preparations run smoothly.

The General Chairperson (Ketum) of PSSI emphasized that the Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium (GBT), which is the main venue for the opening of the 2023 U-17 World Cup, received appreciation from FIFA.

"FIFA is happy with its smooth and unobstructed preparations. I think GBT as an opening arena later you will also see on November 10 it will be a surprise," said Erick Thohir during a press conference in South Jakarta on Wednesday, November 8 afternoon.

"Yesterday I got a stage report for opening and it started to be set up and this will be something interesting later," explained Erick.

Although he emphasized that the main event for the opening of the 2023 U-17 World Cup will be held at the GBT Stadium, Erick Thohir guarantees that the excitement will also be felt in all venues in Jakarta, Bandung and Solo.

The three other U-17 World Cup venues, namely, the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS), Si Jalak Harupat Stadium (Bandung), and Manahan Stadium (Solo) will also be held supporting events to enliven the inaugural match.

"All stadiums will have supporting events (opening ceremonies). There is an exhibition from FIFA sponsors, there is also food, there is also festival music, there are all of them," he explained.

"We did an event there because we had to fill it with an event for almost two hours. I think everything is ongoing, but we'll see," explained the 53-year-old man.

The opening ceremony of the 2023 U-17 World Cup will be held before the kick-off of Indonesia against Ecuador which will be played at 19.00 WIB at Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium.

Two top Indonesian artists, Wika Salim and Aurelie Moeremans will be the main entertainers at the opening ceremony of the world championship which coincides with Heroes' Day.

At the opening of the 2023 U-17 World Cup, Wika will perform the song Bersama Garuda (We Are Together). Meanwhile Aurelie will sing the song medley No Comment-Rungkad