CWC Final Venue Given Go-Ahead After Fire Safety Issues

The scheduled venue for the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup final, Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, has been given clearance to host matches by the city’s fire department.

Preparations into the stadia hosting matches at the flagship international cricket event hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh has come under severe scrutiny and last week, safety inspectors were unhappy that mandatory fire equipment, including water hydrants, alarms and extinguishers were still not in place at the Wankhede Stadium.

However, the city of Mumbai’s fire department revealed on Tuesday, February 22, that the problems had been rectified and the venue is able to host the 2 April final as well as two group stage matches on 13 and 18 March.

deputy chief fire officer A N Shinde told the Press Trust of India, “we have given an NOC (no objection certificate) to the stadium. They have fulfilled all the fire safety norms at the stadium,” after inspecting the 33,000-seater venue.

“We have given them the compliance certificate. They can host matches, the stadium is safe and secure,” he added.

The news will come as a huge relief to event organisers, especially for the stadia in India after Kolkata’s Eden Gardens also faced safety issues ahead of the tournament which saw the Group B game between India and England on 27 February switched to Bangalore as a result.