The astro turf to be laid on the pitch of the Warri Township Stadium in readiness for the FIFA U-17 World Cup holding in Nigeria later in the year has arrived from London.

Special assistant to Delta State Sports Commission Chairman, Timi Ebikagbaro, informed that the turf came into the country some days ago from a company named Tiger Storm in Birmingham.

He said with the arrival of the turf, work on the pitch, which has already commenced, would further be intensified about three days to the draws of the tournament on August 7, in Abuja, which also coincides with the final visit of the FIFA inspection team to the nine designated centres.

The process would have commenced before FIFA comes around. We do not intend to lay the turf until after the visit. By then, we should be home and dry, Ebikagbaro said.

According to media reports, Warri has spent close to N1 billion on the renovation of its facilities since it commenced work on its stadium last year, shortly before FIFA,s first visit.

However, the Niger Delta crisis in the Ijaw speaking area of Gbaramatu about 20 kilometres from the oil city in May nearly marred its chances of bidding for one of the six venues to host the tournament.

This was because of the militant activities in the area, which made the FIFA inspection team, led by Jack Warner, to make a u-turn from Warri, citing security concerns. The inspection team later readmitted the state on sympathy grounds, thereby, putting her on standby.

It would be recalled that FIFA had commended some of the facilities in Warri, which it had inspected before May.The centre remains optimistic of getting the nod, based on the extent of work done.