Spokesman: FIFA to arrive mid-May to inspect facilities for Nigeria 2009

LAGOS, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Delegates from the world soccer governing body FIFA are expected to arrive in Nigeria by mid-May for the second round of inspection of facilities for the Nigeria 2009 U-17 FIFA World Cup competition, a member of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) said.

Emeka Odipko, spokesman for the LOC on Thursday told Xinhua on a phone call that the committee was working hard to meet FIFA's requirements for hosting of the competition.

He said the LOC had recommended more than five sub-seats for the competition as the committee was aware that not all would meet the standard set by FIFA.

According to him, any sub-seat which failed to meet the standard set by FIFA would be dropped.

Odipko said it was unfortunate that the FIFA team inspected only major centers during its first visit in March this year.

He said the LOC was confident of meeting the FIFA requirements as it had the support of various tiers of governments in the country.

He informed that the grey areas FIFA pointed out during its first inspection such as electronic scoreboards, dressing rooms, security devices, the pitches for training and matches, hotels and medical facilities had been improved since then.