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The Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup will be taking control of various football venues around the country from August. This will be to ensure that the stadia and training pitches to be used for the World Cup, which takes place in T&T from September 5-25, are well prepared for the event. According to Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the LOC, Nataki Kerr, the venues, including the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mannie Ramjohn Stadium and training pitches such as QRC Grounds, are to be renovated by the government before the LOC are given the keys to them.

“Work will begin by the government from July and hopefully we will have the ground by August,” said Kerr. “Things were a bit slow before, but the government has committed to speeding things up.” While T&T prepares to welcome the world for the auspicious event however, many will be affected by the unavailability of the grounds, particularly, the National Professional Football League (Pro League). Dexter Skeene, CEO of the Pro League, shared that while the World Cup will affect the usual running of the league, provisions will be made to ensure that football is still being played otherwise.

“The league is catering for that eventuality (losing the grounds), and we will try to be as creative as possible,” said Skeene. The former national striker, explained the plan is to run a knockout competition, which will not require as many venues, so that the interest and hype in the league is still maintained. He also said that in an effort to support the tournament, there will be no matches played in the Pro League on the days that the young Soca Princesses are in action. “The Pro League wants to support the effort, so we will not play any matches whenever there are matches in the World Cup.”