A new beach soccer stadium will be built in Seychelles to host the 2025 FIFA World Cup Beach Soccer competition that the island nation will host.

Seychelles was named as the host for the 13 edition of the competition in 2022 and will become the first African country to host the event.

A delegation from FIFA, the football world's governing body, made a two-day visit recently to the island nation to evaluate the facilities.

FIFA's director of tournament, Jaime Yarza, told reporters that the prime target is to work on a revolutionary concept stadium with 4,000 seats.

Fortem Consulting Engineer from South Africa will be working on the Beach Soccer stadium that will be utilised for the World Cup and their representatives were part of the FIFA delegation to inspect the area and get a feel of the work that needs to be done.

The work will not only be for the stadium but will be for the whole compound around the venue, which is going to be used to welcome fans to the World Cup," said Yarza.

A delegation from FIFA, the football world's governing body, made a two-day visit recently to the island nation to evaluate the facilities. (Sedrick Nicette, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

A variety of improvements will be made as part of the project, including new access roads to the beach soccer stadium, fan zones, and other events that will take place during the competition.

He added that based on the designs he has seen for the event, particularly the stadium, this would likely be the finest stadium there has ever been for a Beach Soccer World Cup.

"A country like Seychelles deserves to organise a world cup, even though it might not be ready for football yet, but right now beach soccer is a perfect match for a country like Seychelles," said Yarza.

The present beach soccer arena in the eastern Mahe district of Roche Caiman will serve as the event's training facility, and according to Yarza, as it is a stadium, it is already the best training facility the competition has ever had.

"We are also very satisfied with the meetings we have had with the government up till now, where they have promised us all the support," Yarza said, adding that FIFA wants this to be a World Cup of the people and will look to involve the community.

Elvis Chetty, the president of the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF), said "There's a lot of work to be done, but I am grateful that all the planning is in place, where we will be able to continue evaluating our progress."

Sixteen teams from all around the world will participate with Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, participating as the host country with two other African countries.

Source: Seychelles News Agency