New Delhi: In less than 48 hours, the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup will kick off with two matches simultaneously, at Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium and Margao’s Nehru Stadium.
The Odisha capital will stage two Group A games on the opening day — Brazil versus Morocco from 4.30 pm, followed by India vs USA from 8 pm.
The local organizers and government are leaving no stone unturned to ensure crowd participation at the matches in what will be the Indian women’s first ever participation in a World Cup event.
Also Read: U-17 Women’s World Cup: Know The Indian Team Which Will Play in Bhubaneswar
Union Sports minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday evening shared a video on social media to launch the #KickOffTheDream campaign.
Urging Indians to watch the U-17 World Cup matches in Bhubaneswar, Goa and Navi Mumbai in large numbers, Thakur requested fans to support the female footballers by sharing videos of them playing football with the hashtag #KickOffTheDream.
To start this nationwide campaign, the Sports minister nominated fellow-Union minister Kiren Rijiju, Olympic gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra and Bollywood star Ajay Devgn to post videos of them playing football and tag 3 more people of their choice.
Thakur himself is seen showing off his footballing skills in the video.
I nominate @KirenRijiju ji @Neeraj_chopra1@ajaydevgn to join the #KickOffTheDream campaign and show support for our female footballers participating in FIFA #U17WWC World Cup for the first time.
Let every Indian join in and cheer for our girls!! pic.twitter.com/kE6IOr8bBo
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) October 9, 2022