Governing Bodies
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND TO HOST FIFA 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
BY NANCY GILLEN
Australia and New Zealand have been awarded the hosting rights for the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The FIFA Council voted to award the ninth edition of the Women’s World Cup to the trans-Tasman bid during an online meeting.
It had been considered the front-runner in the bid race, having received the higher score of 4.1 in the FIFA evaluation report published earlier this month, and received 22 out of a possible 35 votes from the Council.
Colombia, the only other contender, scored 2.8 in the evaluation report and obtained 13 votes.
In the evaluation report, the Australia and New Zealand bid was praised for its commercial potential in particular.
“The Australia/New Zealand 2023 bid provides a variety of very good options in terms of sporting and general infrastructure,” the report said.
“It would also appear to present the most commercially favourable proposition, taking into consideration the financial commitments made by the Governments of both countries towards the operational costs of the tournament.”
The report acknowledged that a joint bid between two countries could be a “more complex undertaking”, however.
The tournament is now set to be the first cross-Confederation hosted World Cup and the first ever Women’s World Cup in the Asia-Pacific region.
Thirty-two teams will also feature in the tournament for the first time.
FIFA Women’s World Cup ✔ @FIFAWWC
The #FIFAWWC 2023 hosts are @FFA & @NZ_Football.
Here you can find the FIFA Council vote breakdown.
It has been proposed to hold the competition from July 10 to August 20, with the opening game set to take place in Auckland’s 50,000-seat Eden Park and the final in Sydney’s 70,000-capacity Stadium Australia.
Up to eight venues have been proposed in Australia, with five in New Zealand.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern were both heavily involved in the bid race, with both leaders featuring in the final presentation to the FIFA Council.
New Zealand Football President and FIFA Council member Johanna Wood, Football Federation Australia President Chris Nikou, Australia captain Sam Kerr and New Zealand captain Ali Riley were also in the virtual presentation.
It had been reported in the run-up to the announcement that voting may have swung in Colombia’s favour, but ultimately it was decided this was the weaker bid.
The evaluation report found that “a significant amount of investment and support from both local stakeholders and FIFA” would be necessary to improve the Colombian bid.
The South American Football Confederation and the Colombian Football Federation later took issue with the evaluation report, accusing FIFA of making “erroneous and discriminatory conclusions.”
Brazil and Japan had also been involved in the bid race, but both withdrew in recent months.
France staged the last edition in 2019, when the United States lifted the trophy for the fourth time.
-insidethegames
By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria is set to host the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), marking the third time the country will stage the continent’s top football gathering.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, approved Nigeria’s proposal to host the event.
The approval followed a meeting between President Tinubu and CAF President Patrice Motsepe, attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, former NFF President and Special Adviser to the CAF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, as well as CAF Acting General Secretary Samson Adamu.
Sports Villages Square affirms that Nigeria previously hosted the CAF Congress at the National Theatre in Lagos in March 1980 and again in February 2009, when the late CAF President Issa Hayatou secured another four-year term in office.
In addition to this year’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly, scheduled for October, Nigeria also secured the hosting rights of the CAF Awards ceremony. The annual awards gala, which celebrates Africa’s top football performers, has been staged in Morocco over the past three years.
Nigeria had earlier hosted the CAF Awards when telecom firm, Globacom, was the headline sponsor. This year’s event will be the seventh to be held in Nigeria after those of 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
The CAF Ordinary General Assembly traditionally attracts key football stakeholders from across the continent, including presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives of the six zonal unions and senior football administrators.
The CAF Awards ceremony is regarded as one of African football’s flagship events, honouring outstanding players, coaches, clubs and officials in a glamorous setting that showcases the continent’s football excellence.
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FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned former Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves from all football-related activities for five years after finding he sexually harassed female staff members.
FIFA also fined Alves 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000) after determining that he had breached provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to the protection of physical and mental integrity, abuse of position and general duties.
“FIFA has a strict stance against all forms of abuse in football,” the organisation said on Monday.
The decision followed a review of written statements from the victims, documents provided by the GFF, submissions from Alves, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Alves stepped down from his position in 2024.
The ban came into force on Monday, when the terms of the decision were notified to Alves, and the full grounds for the ruling will be communicated within 60 days in accordance with the Code of Ethics, FIFA added.
The GFF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alves could not immediately be reached for comment.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that he planned to seek re-election for a fourth term in a bid to continue to lead the governing body of world soccer.
Infantino confirmed he would run for the 2027–2031 term in the closing moments of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, which comes less than two months before the start of the World Cup.
The election will be held on March 18 in Morocco, which is set to co-host the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino said he was “honoured and humbled” to have the chance to run for a fourth term.
The Italian-Swiss took office in 2016, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023.
Infantino has pushed for the expansion of FIFA competitions during his tenure, with this year’s World Cup in North America the first to feature 48 teams, while the women’s tournament in 2023 has been expanded to 32 teams.
Infantino’s tenure has also drawn some criticism over issues such as high World Cup ticket prices and the decision to award the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in December.
Earlier this month, the council of South American football’s governing body (CONMEBOL) said in a statement it would unanimously support the 56-year-old if he decided to seek another term.
-Reuters
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