Official! FIFA Appoints Indonesia As Host Of The 2023 U-17 World Cup

FIFA appointed Indonesia to host the 2023 U-17 World Cup. (Photo: Twitter/@FIFA)

JAKARTA - The International Football Federation (FIFA) officially appointed Indonesia to host the 2023 U-17 World Cup. This decision was taken at the FIFA Council hearing which was held at FIFA Headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland, Friday, June 23.

This event was previously scheduled to take place in Peru. However, that status was revoked because Peru was not ready in terms of infrastructure.

So far, FIFA is still scheduling that the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2023 will be held from November 10 to December 2 this year.

"This year's U-17 World Cup will be held in Indonesia," FIFA said in an official statement.

PSSI chairman, Erick Thohir, admitted that he was grateful for the blessings after Indonesia was appointed to host the U-17 World Cup.

"I can only express my gratitude and Alhamdulillah, because the FIFA Council made a joint decision to appoint Indonesia to host the U-17 World Cup this year. This is a form of world trust in Indonesia under the leadership of President Joko Widodo," said Erick.

"I have not received an official notification letter. This is just an announcement reported by FIFA at the FIFA Council trial on Friday night in Zurich. Now the most important thing is how we prepare ourselves to be good hosts," he continued.

Erick himself admitted that he did not know the reason behind the appointment of Indonesia as the host of the U-17 World Cup. However, FIFA is believed to see Indonesia as ready because previously it was appointed as the host of the U-20 World Cup even though it was finally canceled due to rejection of the Israeli national team's participation.

"I don't know the main reason for this determination. Maybe, several positive factors that Indonesia has shown in world football over the past three months, such as improving stadium facilities that have passed the FIFA feasibility test," said the Minister of SOEs.

"Then the two FIFA Match Day events against Palestine and Argentina, the world champion Qatar 2022, which was successful and caught the attention of FIFA and international football, became the reason. After all, we must be grateful because FIFA's trust in us is still high. We must maintain this and prove it," he concluded.