The team from FIFA comprised Sunny Kohli and Thomas, who were accompanied by the Indonesia FIFA U-20 World Cup Organizing Committee (Inafoc), representatives of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), and the National Police.
After listening to the presentation from Nindya Karya, as the contractor, the entourage undertook a tour of the stadium area to view the progress in renovation.
According to Head of the Surakarta City Youth and Sports Service Rini Kusumandari, FIFA's visit aimed at inspecting Manahan Stadium that will be used to host the U-20 World Cup from May 20 to June 11, 2023.
"FIFA made the visit accompanied by Inafoc, PSSI, and the National Police to review the progress in grass repair work at Manahan Stadium," she remarked.
Kusumandari noted that FIFA, during its first visit to Manahan Stadium in early January 2023, had provided recommendations regarding several improvements. During this February visit, it visited to check the realization or progress in terms of the improvements made.
"This has been presented by Nindya Karya, as the contractor, who informed that the progress in the stadium renovation work has reached 68.7-percent completion," she stated.
She explained that several overhauls were in progress in the form of renovation of the gate to enable the players' bus to enter directly into the stadium, the increase in the number of toilets in the stands for men and women, and the construction of stairs in the mix zone that has been completed.
In addition, the stadium grass will be renovated once the top-dress grass grows a little more. Once the grass grows, it can form the top-dress that will be installed around mid-March, she remarked.
"Special installation of grass is only done at Manahan Stadium as the main venue," she added.
Kusumandari noted that the lighting inside the stadium had met the standard set by FIFA. However, the work for lighting outside the stadium had yet to be done. Several CCTV installations also need to be changed, with the progress achieved, so far, being 50 percent, she noted.
Since the progress in renovation has reached 68.7 percent, in plain view, almost all the recommendations have been implemented, such as anti-skid carpets that only need to be installed, she noted.
She estimates that the Manahan Stadium will be ready to host the U-20 World Cup in mid-March.
Meanwhile, after checking the progress in renovation at Manahan Stadium, the FIFA delegation headed straight to Bung Tomo Stadium in Surabaya and Bali.
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Translator: Bambang Dwi M, Resinta S
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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