05/15/24 03:09:00
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05/15 15:07 CDT FIFA members to vote on the host of the 2027 Women's World Cup
FIFA members to vote on the host of the 2027 Women's World Cup
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Soccer Writer
The FIFA Congress will pick from a winnowed field of two candidates to host the
2027 Women's World Cup at its meeting in Bangkok this week.
A joint bid by the United States and Mexico was pulled late last month, and
South Africa withdrew its candidacy in November. That left only two bids
standing for Friday's vote: A joint proposal from Belgium, the Netherlands and
Germany, and another from Brazil.
It's the first time that all 211 of FIFA's members associations will have the
opportunity weigh in on the host of the women's tournament. Previously, it was
decided by the FIFA Council, the governing body's decision-making committee.
Brazil is favored to win the contest, particularly after ranking higher in a
FIFA evaluation report last week.
"The document shows Brazil has fulfilled with excellency all the rigid demands
of the bidding process," Brazilian soccer confederation president Ednaldo
Rodrigues said.
Brazil's bid, titled "As Natural as Football," emphasizes an event that will
inspire women and girls, as well raise awareness of such issues as
sustainability, social responsibility and inclusion.
Brazil was also in the running for the 2023 Women's World Cup, but dropped out
citing lingering hardship from the COVID-19 pandemic. Japan also withdrew late
in that process. When the bids were ultimately considered, there were only two,
Colombia and the joint submission from Australia and New Zealand, which
ultimately won with 63% of the council's vote.
Brazil has hosted two men's World Cups, in 1950 and 2014, and the 2016
Olympics. A South American country has never hosted a Women's World Cup and
fellow CONMEBOL nations are likely to support the effort.
"The results published by FIFA add to our strength so we can work harder in
this final sprint," Rodrigues said. "We will work more so we can get the
biggest number of votes possible. We want everyone's support."
Germany hosted the Women's World Cup in 2011 and the Netherlands hosted the
2017 Women's European Championship. Among the advantages of the "BNG" proposal:
There are 13 possible host cities that are accessible by train.
Their bid --- titled "Breaking New Ground," using the countries' initials ---
marks the first time the three traditional rivals have collaborated as
prospective hosts. Belgium and the Netherlands co-hosted the men's European
Championship in 2000.
"There's a fantastic combination of knowledge from organizing those big
tournaments together, with some new ideas," German soccer federation secretary
general Heike Ullrich told The Associated Press. "One very important thing for
us was when it comes to organizing a tournament is that it's compact ... so
?local but global' is one slogan. The longest distance between two venues is
300 kilometers (185 miles), which means for teams and fans, they can just find
their base camp and from there they can go from A to B."
The evaluation report flagged risks within the legal "contractual framework"
that FIFA requires to host the event in the BNG proposal. Ullrich countered
that any complications from working with three different governments would be
ironed out, and that something like transport, for example, is only arranged
after a successful bid. Germany will host the men's European Championship this
year, when ticket holders will have free local transport to games and
discounted long-distance services.
"It's just a question of timing, and when we take these steps," Ullrich said.
"Of course we will match everything FIFA needs to have a FIFA Women's World
Cup."
Hosting the event has a growing economic benefit, too. The Women's World Cup in
Canada in 2015 drew 1.35 million spectators. There was $493.6 million in
economic activity generated by the tournament and the under-20 Women's World
Cup the year before.
At last year's World Cup it almost doubled, generating $865.7 million for
Australia and $67.87 million for co-host New Zealand.
The United States and Mexico withdrew at the end of April after touting $3
billion in economic impact. But the sports calendar was already crowded with
the United States, Mexico and Canada set to host the men's World Cup in 2026,
and Los Angeles hosting the 2028 Olympics.
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AP Sports Writers Ciaran Fahey in Berlin and Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo
contributed to this report.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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