(ATR) Australia seems determined to host the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, adding more financial support to its bid for the football tournament.
The Australian government announced on Feb. 6 that it will provide an extra $4 million to bid for and organize the 24-team tournament.
The announcement quadruples the original investment of $1 million given by the government to the Football Federation Australia in June 2017. Australia’s Sports Minister Bridget McKenzie and Minister for Women Kelly O’Dwyer led the additional funding announcement.
"This is an exciting day – for women’s sport in Australia, for all sport in Australia and for all Australians," said McKenzie.
O’Dwyer added that Australia’s bid would be strengthened by its commitment to women’s sport as a whole and the success of the national women’s football team, also known as "the Matildas".
Australia recently hosted the 2015 Asian Cup for men’s football and has demonstrated success hosting a variety of international competitions in the past 20 years. From the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics to the upcoming Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, the country has proved its hosting capabilities.
According to McKenzie, hosting the WWC would bring multiple benefits to Australia, "as well as a positive impact on women’s participation in sport at all levels, from grassroots to high performance and sport as a whole.
"It would bring substantial economic, cultural and community opportunities," she said.
The proposed locations of the Women’s World Cup in Australia have yet to be determined, but according to officials, the tournament has strong interest from a number of states.
FIFA has yet to release the bidding documents to its candidates. Along with Australia, other countries that have expressed interest in staging the event include Colombia, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand and South Korea.
The official bids are expected to be submitted in October before the host is announced in 2019. France will host the WWC in 2019.
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be the ninth edition of the tournament with 24 teams including the host country.
Written by Javier Monne
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