Speaking through the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Olusegun Adeniyi, the government said on Tuesday that the decision followed a drastic downward review of the estimated cost from N35.5 Billion to N9 billion

Adeniyi said: “President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua today gave the go-ahead for Nigeria to host the tournament as originally planned. After giving due consideration to the many representations made by global football community and other stakeholders, President Yar’Adua has directed that the sum of N9 billion be provided in next year’s budget for the Under-17 World Cup instead of the outrageous N35.5 billion initially requested by the Local Organising Committee.

“The President expects that with prudent management and complementary funding from FIFA and the private sector, the final cost to the Federal Government of hosting the Under-17 World Cup will be even less than the N9 billion which the National Assembly will now be asked to appropriate.

“There is already an understanding that FIFA will bear the full cost of accommodating participating teams and an encouraging response from the Nigerian private sector to the demand that it should contribute much more significantly towards the successful hosting of the tournament.

“President Yar’Adua has also asked Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to oversee the management of the Federal Government’s role in hosting the tournament to ensure that Nigeria receives full value, in every respect, for funds committed to it. Consequently, the Local Organising Committee will now report to the Vice-President. Vice-President Jonathan has accordingly written to the President of FIFA confirming that Nigeria will still host the Under-17 World Cup between October 24 and November 15, next year.”

However, as hosts, Nigeria now qualifies automatically and will be able to attempt to hold onto the trophy, which it won at the last edition of the tournament, held in South Korea.

Before the pull out pronouncement, the Eaglets coach, Henry Nwosu (MON) had planned to kick off his preparations for the U-17 World Cup next month.