Australia and New Zealand have been picked to co-host the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 at a vote taken by the FIFA Council during its meeting held via videoconference.
The Football Federation Australia and New Zealand Football joint bid has received 22 of the 35 valid votes cast by the FIFA Council members in the first ballot, with the Colombian Football Association having obtained 13 votes, FIFA stated in a report.
The result was announced by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
England, toeing the UEFA line, was among the major European nations to vote against the Australiana and New Zealand joint bid.
“Even though the Colombian bid was not the one rated highest technically by FIFA, European members of the FIFA council felt it represented a strategic opportunity for the development of women’s football in South America thanks to the legacy and increase of attention for the women’s game that the tournament would bring to the continent,” UEFA said in a statement.
“It was a choice between two countries – Australia and New Zealand – where women’s football is already strongly established, and a continent where it still has to be firmly implanted and has a huge development potential. It’s important to add that European members of the FIFA council agreed to vote together on major issues as a matter of solidarity.”
Following on from the astounding success of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 in France and the subsequent unanimous decision by the FIFA Council, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 will be the first edition to feature 32 teams and it will also be the first to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand and across two confederations.
There was no abstention, but two council members recused themselves from the voting process.