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The first semi-final of the ongoing FIFA Under-17 World Cup, between Brazil and England on October 25, has been moved to Kolkata due to "severe rainfall" at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, FIFA announced on Monday. "Following a thorough assessment of the pitch conditions at Guwahati's Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, which has been affected by severe rainfall over the past few days, FIFA has decided to move the venue of the semi-final between Brazil and England to Kolkata," said a FIFA release, adding, "Despite the great efforts by all involved parties, including the authorities of State Government of Assam, to preserve the pitch, FIFA has taken this decision following consultations with both teams in order to safeguard the players' health and to ensure the best playing conditions." The match will now be played at Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium, which hosted the Brazil-Germany quarter-final on Sunday and will also host the third-place playoff as well as the final, both on October 28. There had been concerns about the condition of the pitch following Saturday's quarter-final between Ghana and Mali, which was played in wet and difficult conditions and won by Mali 2-1. After the match, which began at 5:00 PM as scheduled following a routine referee's inspection at 3:30 PM, Ghana coach Samuel Fabin said he believed the match should have been rescheduled for another day. Fabin said the "field didn't help much" in what he called a disappointing game. "I thought the game should have been abandoned and played in another time but those who were organising the game, they said the game should be played, so we played." Asked whether they had faced conditions like this in a match of this importance, Fabin was unambiguous: "No, we've not encountered anything like this before." As for the two teams affected by this change of venue, England and Brazil -- the only teams yet to be beaten this tournament -- have already felt the love and affection of the football lovers of Kolkata. "We'd love to come back to Kolkata. This is just an amazing atmosphere -- the attendance is so good for all the teams, not just England. The local public deserve a pat on the back," England coach Steve Cooper had said after their win on penalties over Japan in the round-of-16 match on October 17. Brazil came calling a couple of days later, and have been the toast of both the media and the fans ever since. More than 66,000 people watched their quarter-final against Germany on October 22. And Brazil responded in kind, with a couple of magical moments of inspiration from Weverton and Paulinho to book their berth in the last four. "Congratulations to you all for the organisation. With all the facilities, it's a pleasure to play here," Amadeu said after the game. "Also the way the fans supported the game -- they supported Brazil every time even though Germany played such a good game."
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