Football Federation Australia (FFA) today congratulated and thanked the NSW Government for its support of the bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023.
NSW Premier the Hon Gladys Berejiklian MP made the announcement at Parliament House in Sydney, and FFA Chief Executive David Gallop AM said he was delighted with the government’s commitment to women’s football.
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“Hosting the largest women’s sporting event in Australia in four years’ time will have a significant and positive impact on the Australian and NSW economies.
"Most importantly, it will secure an outstanding legacy for female sport, helping FFA achieve Gender Equality in Football through our drive towards parity in female participation, getting more females in leadership roles at all levels of the game, and improving pathways to develop the next generation of Westfield Matildas.
“I congratulate the Premier, the Minister for Tourism and the Minister for Sport for their foresight, commitment and support of FFA’s Bid. We look forward to submitting an extremely strong Bid to FIFA, and ultimately to delivering the best-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup, with NSW playing a significant role in a successful event.”
The Premier said building world-class stadiums attracts the world’s biggest sports events and the FIFA Women’s World Cup is a highlight for women’s sport. “The world’s best women’s footballers could be scoring goals in our stadiums in 2023 and the scoreboard will show NSW winning for decades afterwards,” Ms Berejiklian said.
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“We committed to bidding for 10 World Cups in 10 years because these major events drive investment into our cities, delivering social, economic and cultural benefits to NSW, particularly regional areas.”
FFA has been in discussions with the Federal and State and Territory Governments to bring the tournament to Australia in four years’ time, and Chairman Chris Nikou said he was now looking forward to other jurisdictions confirming their support of the Bid.
“FFA is confident it would host the best-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023, and to maximise our chances of securing hosting rights we need to show the whole country is fully behind our Bid,” Nikou said.
“The commitment from the NSW Government is an important step in the process, and we now look forward to other Governments confirming their support to turn the prospect of a truly national event into reality.”
