Football Federation Australia (FFA), with the support of the Australian Government, is moving to the final stages of a bid for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Australian Government today confirmed that it would provide funding of $4 million for the formal phase of bidding following an initial $1 million provided in June last year to initiate a first phase of bid development and feasibility assessment.
FFA Chief Executive Officer, David Gallop AM, attended the announcement in Canberra by Federal Minister for Sport, Senator Bridget McKenzie and Federal Minister for Women, Kelly O’Dwyer.
“We welcome the partnership of the Australian Government in our bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023 and thank the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull and his ministerial colleagues for the strong support they have provided,” Mr Gallop said.
“I think it’s fair to say that the Westfield Matildas have become Australia’s favourite team over the past year and they are inspiring girls and boys around the country to take up football, which is already the biggest participation sport in Australia.
“We believe that hosting the world’s biggest women’s sporting event, the FIFA Women’s World Cup, would bring enormous benefits to the Australian community, not only promoting healthy, active lifestyles but inclusion and gender equality.
“We also believe hosting the tournament in 2023 would provide economic benefits and years of trade and diplomatic opportunities for Australia. The last FIFA Women’s World Cup, hosted by Canada in 2015, was attended by 1.35 million people and had a global television audience of 764 million, with 80 million of those in China.”
Mr Gallop said the Australian Government funding would be used to support the appointment of a bid team responsible for the delivery of the final submission to FIFA. Bid working groups had been established in all States and Territories to work through the scope of the bid and tournament requirements.
“We’ve had a great response from the States and Territories and we will continue to work closely with them as well as the Australian Government,” he said.
“We sat down with the Matildas late last year to seek their input on the bid and we will engage with the other sections of the football community as we further develop our proposals.”