The Readiness Of The Training Stadium In Bekasi For The U-20 World Cup Participants

Wibawa Mukti Cikarang Stadium. (Photo: PSSI)

JAKARTA - The Bekasi Regency Government, West Java, has prepared at least five supporting stadiums as training facilities for a number of countries that will compete in the upcoming 2021 FIFA World Cup Under-20.

Head of the Bekasi Regency Culture, Youth and Sports Service, Rahmat Atong, said the five stadiums include the Tambun Selatan Stadium and Pasir Tanjung Stadium. "These two stadiums will be installed with synthetic grass, according to the PSSI direction," said Rahmat, Saturday, December 28.

Meanwhile, the other three stadiums are Cikarang Utara Stadium, Cikarang Barat, and Telaga Asih Stadium and BJS Sukadanau Stadium as alternatives.

"The five stadiums will begin to be revitalized early next year. They have budgeted and even received written support from the Bekasi Regent," he said.

According to him, the five stadiums plus one alternative stadium were chosen as supporting stadiums because they were considered ready both in terms of the distance that was not too far from the Wibawa Mukti Main Stadium or other supporting aspects.

"Especially the stadium conditions such as grass and supporting infrastructure, road access to the stadium, all are qualified. We just need to polish it again for the VIP stands and spectator seats," he said.

He explained that the seriousness of his party in preparing a supporting stadium is the commitment of the local government to support the Wibawa Mukti Stadium as one of the international scale event venues.

"We are optimistic that out of the 10 stadiums that are predicted to be appointed by PSSI as the venue for the U-20 World Cup, one of us will be the host," he said.

In fact, he admitted that the requirements conveyed by the Executive Committee or Exco of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) when inspecting the Wibawa Mukti Stadium recently had its budget allocated by the local government to be realized early next year.

"The standard requirements for FIFA that were conveyed by PSSI representatives yesterday, starting from the main infrastructure for the stadium and supporting the matches as well as the preparation budget we have allocated beforehand," said Rahmat.

The chairman of the Bekasi Regency KONI, Reza Luthfi Hasan, stated that the Wibawa Mukti Stadium was worthy of hosting the U-20 World Cup in terms of stadium infrastructure, supporting facilities, road access, and experience as a host in the previous event.

"The right decision to choose Wibawa Mukti Stadium, AFC standards, Asian Games venue, U-19 Asian Cup, international friendly matches which are on FIFA's official agenda were also played at Wibawa Mukti. This stadium is also the venue for the National Team TC (training camp), starting from U-19. 16, U-19, U-23, to the senior national team. So if asked whether it is ready or not, it is certain that it is very ready, "he said.

Previously, the world football authority, FIFA, appointed Indonesia to host the 2021 U-20 World Cup. FIFA President Gianni Infantino officially announced this after chairing the FIFA general meeting in Shanghai, China on Thursday, October 24, 2019.

Indonesia was selected after eliminating two other finalists, namely Peru and Brazil. From a total of 10 stadiums proposed by PSSI during the bidding process, one of them is located in Bekasi Regency, West Java, namely the Wibawa Mukti Stadium.