TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali stated that the government is preparing to be a good host for the FIFA U-20 World Cup on May 20-June 11, 2023. Ministries and agencies as well as provincial and city administrations, he said, continued to coordinate for the international agenda.

“We are preparing committees, coordinating with the provincial and city governments. We want to not only host a football match but also present Indonesia. And we want to show participating countries that Indonesia is capable of being a good host,” said Zainudin in Jakarta, Thursday, September 22.

After the launching of the official mascot Bacuya last week, he said FIFA representatives were quite satisfied with the country’s preparations. He also claimed that the government did not want to burden the Garuda Nusantara squad with high targets given much more experienced opponents.

He asked the players to exercise their best to pass at least the preliminary round. “We have to be self-aware regarding the target because we will face teams from Europe, Latin America, and Asia who are more experienced and advanced. I've asked the players to keep doing their best to pass the preliminary round,” Zainuddin added.

Supposed to be held last year, the World Cup will be attended by 24 countries. Indonesia proposed six stadiums for the event, namely Jakarta’s Bung Karno Main Stadium, Palembang’s Jakabaring Stadium, Bandung’s Si Jalak Harupat Stadium, Solo’s Manahan Stadium, Surabaya’s Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium, and Bali’s Captain I Wayan Dipta Stadium.

FIFA will launch another inspection of Indonesia’s preparations for the 2023 U-20 World Cup next month.

ANTARA

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