A joint bid by Australia and New Zealand has earned the highest rating points in a three-way battle to host the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. FIFA has confirmed three bids for submission to the FIFA Council to pick the host for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
The FIFA Council will pick the host nation or nations for the Women’s World Cup 2023 from among the joint bidders Australia and New Zealand, Colombia and Japan at its meeting on June 25.
FIFA in its 228-page report – FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: Bid Evaluation Report – has confirmed that the Australia-New Zealand joint bid has scored the highest 4.1 points out of the maximum five in evaluation for the first 32-team women’s tournament.
The Japanese bid has scored 3.9 and Colombia’s bid garnered only 2.8. FIFA’s ruling council will now pick the winner. Each of the 37-member panel’s votes will be made public.
“One year after the record-breaking eighth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, the FIFA Council will decide on the host(s) for the ninth edition of the tournament in 2023, which we hope will be even bigger and better. The quality of the bids is testimony to the tremendous momentum women’s football has generated and we are looking forward to building on this to take women’s football to the next level at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023,” said FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura.
FIFA’s evaluation model for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 bidding process comprises the following key components:
- a technical evaluation: an assessment of the main infrastructure and commercial criteria, applying an evaluation system established by FIFA;
- a risk assessment: an assessment of the risks associated with certain criteria, including but not limited to human rights and sustainability, applying a specific rating;
- a description: a summary of relevant information provided in the bid, such as the hosting vision and strategy, highlighting potential issues (without a technical evaluation or risk assessment).
The most competitive bidding process in the history of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ will see the appointment of the host(s) of the 2023 showpiece following an open voting procedure by the FIFA Council, in which the result of each ballot and the related votes by the Council members will be made public on FIFA.com, according to a FIFA statement.
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.