Governing Bodies
2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP SET TO GO ‘DOWN UNDER’ AS SOUTH AFRICA WITHDRAWS
As the formal bid for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup closes this Friday, South Africa has sensationally withdrawn from the race, opening the way for Australia and New Zealand who have now merged their bids into one.
With that, the competition is set to go ‘Down Under’, a colloquialism that refers to Australia and New Zealand.
It comes from the fact that these two countries are located in the Southern Hemisphere, ‘below’ many other countries on the globe.
South Africa’s withdrawal came less than 24 hours to the deadline for submitting bid books.
The South African Football Association (SAFA) claimed it wants to focus on improving the women’s game, particularly the fledgling national league, before bidding for another international tournament,
But SAFA has been in dispute recently with South Africa’s Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa, whose support they would need to secure Government guarantees.
South Africa as a country is also facing economic problems.
“We resolved that as an Association we should not proceed with the bid,” SAFA acting chief executive Hay Mokoena told Reuters.
“We want to strengthen our women’s national league first before we invite the world to come and play.
“Definitely, we will consider doing 2027 and we think, by that time, we will have a stronger women’s league and a much stronger women’s national team.”
Australia and New Zealand, meanwhile, have decided to join forces in their bid to host the 2023 women’s tournament after reaching an 11th-hour agreement before tomorrow’s deadline.
The joint bid is proposing to host the final of the quadrennial international women’s tournament in Sydney, at the newly renovated 75,000 capacity ANZ Stadium in the Olympic Park.
The Football Federation Association had recently abandoned plans to submit a standalone bid for the competition as it believes, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, that the best chance to beat the bids from Japan and Colombia was to join forces with its neighbour New Zealand.
FIFA’s decision to expand the tournament from 24 to 32 teams was apparently not a factor, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Japan Football Association (JFA) has also confirmed they have submitted their bid.
“We don’t want to one-up other bids, and we don’t want to compare ourselves to other bids,” JFA President Kozo Tashima told the Japan Times.
“We’ve submitted a bid that contains the best tournament Japan can run.
“Between next year’s Olympics, the professionalisation of the women’s league from 2021 and this Women’s World Cup, we want to give a significant boost to women’s soccer and that is why this bid is so important.
“With Japan’s proven ability to host international tournaments and our spirit of omotenashi (hospitality), we want to put on a Women’s World Cup that will bring joy not only to participating nations, but to us as hosts.”
Japan’s bid features eight stadiums, including the recently completed National Stadium and seven football-specific venues.
Those sites include the new Kyoto Stadium, which will serve as the home of the J. League’s Kyoto Sanga from 2020, and Rugby World Cup hosts Sapporo Dome, Toyota Stadium and Kobe Misaki Stadium.
Saitama Stadium, another Tokyo Olympic venue, as well as Sendai Stadium and Suita Stadium also made the list.
“FIFA requested a tournament with eight venues, and adding one more would increase costs significantly,” Tashima said.
“We’re a small country and can take advantage of our transit system, including the bullet train and air routes.
“With eight stadiums we can run a smooth tournament and keep our costs down.”
Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and possibly South Korea – maybe in a joint bid with North Korea – are the other interested parties, with the successful candidate due to be announced in May.
World football governing body, FIFA, today clocks its 122nd anniversary, celebrating more than a century of overseeing and expanding the global game.
Founded on May 21, 1904, in Paris, France, FIFA began with just seven member associations — France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
From that modest beginning, the organisation has grown into the most influential sports governing body in the world, with 211 member associations spread across all continents.
Over the decades, FIFA has transformed football into a truly global phenomenon through competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Club World Cup, youth tournaments, and developmental programmes aimed at growing the game worldwide.
The organisation has also witnessed remarkable milestones, including the expansion of the men’s World Cup from 13 teams in 1930 to 48 teams beginning from the 2026 edition to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
FIFA’s journey has equally reflected football’s growing influence beyond sport, with the game becoming a major tool for diplomacy, social inclusion, youth empowerment, and economic development across the world.
As FIFA celebrates 122 years of existence, attention is now focused on the future of the game, technological innovations, expanded competitions, women’s football growth, and the continued globalisation of football.
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UEFA has issued a lifetime ban to Petr Vlachovsky, a Czech women’s soccer coach who secretly filmed his players, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
Czech media reported that the coach was convicted in May 2025 and initially received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban for filming FC Slovacko’s players in changing rooms, the youngest of whom was 17.
In a statement, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) said it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate allegations of potential misconduct.
“The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.
FC Slovacko did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Football players’ union FIFPRO welcomed the ban as well as UEFA’s request for world soccer governing body FIFA to impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.
“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and that safeguarding the well-being of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO added in a statement.
Vlachovsky had also previously served as coach of the Czech women’s Under-19s team.
RELATED STORY: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/04/08/outrage-as-male-coach-who-secretly-filmed-women-players-still-free-to-work-in-football/
-Reuters
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Southampton have been kicked out of the Championship playoff final after being found guilty of spying on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, the English Football League said on Tuesday.
Middlesbrough, who lost 2-1 to Southampton on aggregate in the semi, have been reinstated and will face Hull City on Saturday in what is dubbed the world’s richest soccer match.
Promotion to the Premier League, even with an immediate relegation, is estimated to be worth in the region of 200 million pounds ($268.10 million) over three seasons.
Southampton, who admitted the charges, were also found guilty of filming training sessions involving Oxford United in December and Ipswich Town in April during the regular season.
They have also been deducted four points from the start of next season in England’s second tier.
“An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Championship play-offs after the club admitted multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training,” the EFL said.
“Southampton admitted breaches of Regulations requiring Clubs to act with the utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another Club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.
“The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 play-offs and will proceed to the play-off final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.”
The EFL confirmed that Southampton could appeal against the decision and that “parties are working to try and resolve any appeal on Wednesday 20 May.
“Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s fixture,” the statement said.
‘BORO CALLED FOR SOUTHAMPTON EXPULSION
Middlesbrough had called for Southampton’s expulsion after having a training session at their Rockliffe Park site filmed 48 hours ahead of the first leg of their playoff semi-final with Southampton which ended 0-0.
The north-east club said they welcomed the decision.
“We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,” the north Middlesbrough said in a statement.
“As a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday.”
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League last season and were struggling in the early part of this campaign until a storming finish in which they went unbeaten in 19 league games to finish fourth and enter the playoffs.
The south-coast club are the first to fall foul of the Football League’s regulation 127 — brought in after Leeds United were found guilty of spying on Derby County seven years ago, an offence for which they were fined 200,000 pounds.
-Reuters
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