WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Brazil becomes first South American country to host Women’s World Cup after clinching 2027 event
Brazil was declared host of the 2027 Women’s World Cup after winning a vote at the annual FIFA Congress on Friday, beating the joint bid of Belgium, Netherlands and Germany to become the first South American country picked to stage the tournament.
Brazil won with 119 votes versus 78 for the joint European entry, boosted by a technical evaluation from world governing body FIFA that gave a high score for its commercial plan and stadiums purpose-built for the 2014 Men’s World Cup.
“We knew we would be celebrating a victory for South American women’s soccer and for women,” said Ednaldo Rodrigues, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation.
“You can be sure, with no vanity, we will accomplish the best World Cup for women.”
The Congress in Bangkok heard a call by FIFA for all members to implement mandatory sanctions to tackle racist abuse.
There was also a Palestinian proposal to suspend the Israel Football Association (IFA), accusing it of multiple violations of FIFA statutes, including over the war in Gaza and inclusion in Israel’s leagues of teams located in Palestinian territory.
Since an Oct. 7 cross-border raid by Hamas-led gunmen that Israel says killed more than 1,200 people, the offensive in Gaza has left more than 35,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza health officials.
‘RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY’
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said an urgent legal assessment of the Palestinian allegations would be undertaken and the FIFA Council would convene an extraordinary Congress in late July to address the issue.
He said he was extremely shocked by both the Oct. 7 attack and the devastation in Gaza, adding: “I pray for all those people who suffer unimaginably”.
The president of the Palestinian Football Association (PFA), Jibril Rajoub, had accused the IFA of racism and discrimination, in a proposal that alleged complicity in its failure to condemn the operations in Gaza. The IFA rejected that.
“FIFA cannot afford to remain indifferent to these violations or the ongoing genocide in Palestine,” Rajoub told the Congress. “I ask you to stand on the right side of history… If not now, when?”
Israeli counterpart Shino Moshe Zuares said the proposal had nothing to do with football and the IFA had broken no rules.
“Once again, we are facing a cynical political and hostile attempt by the PFA to harm Israel,” he said.
“I am holding myself back … in the hope things can be better for the game for those who play in Israel, the Palestinian authority, or those who play all over the world.”
TRANSFORMATIVE BID
The vote on the Women’s World Cup had been whittled down to two candidates after the United States and Mexico withdrew to pursue the 2031 tournament instead.
Brazil had scored 4.0 out of 5 compared to 3.7 for Belgium-Netherlands-Germany in the FIFA evaluation, which had highlighted the European bid’s compactness, solid commercial viability and short distances between venues, but noted smaller capacities of its 13 stadiums.
Brazil soccer chief Rodrigues said the win was the result of conviction, not lobbying.
“We were not campaigning, asking for votes. We were working to give FIFA what it needed,” he said.
The bid’s operational manager Valesca Araujo said the aim was to boost women’s soccer in South America, which was underdeveloped and had huge potential.
“The concept we presented went beyond a sports tournament. We worked for a transformation,” she said.
“Now we have to celebrate. It’s a great achievement for South America.”
FIFA vowed to be tough on racism with a call for strict measures to be implemented by all member over instances of abuse, including forfeiting of matches, and introducing racism as an offence in players’ disciplinary codes.
It advocates suspending or abandoning games plus the introduction of a global standard gesture for players to inform referees of racist abuse.
“If it is a problem of society and society can’t deal with it, let’s deal with it in football once and for all,” Infantino said.
Infantino also weighed in on what he called a “futile debate” over the volume of matches played globally, arguing FIFA organised about 1% of club games and just 1% to 2% of national team matches.
He reminded delegates that most FIFA members “would have no football without the resources” FIFA provides.
“I hope these figures will show that we should probably stop this futile debate, it’s really pointless, and focus on what we need to do,” he said.
-Reuters
Following the record-setting FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023, 1,041 clubs from 48 FIFA Member Associations across all six confederations are to receive a share of the revenue for the release of players who participated in the tournament.
Going by the final list of players submitted by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to the tournament, two domestic club sides, Abia Angels and Rivers Angels will profit from the $11 million largess.
The funds have been made available via FIFA’s Club Benefits Programme (CBP), which was introduced ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 to recognise the fundamental role that clubs play in developing players. The total amount committed to clubs that released and/or trained the stars of women’s football rose to USD 11.3m for the 2023 edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ from USD 8.48m four years earlier.
Nearly two million fans at the tournament’s ten stadiums – and two billion following around the world – witnessed a new standard of women’s football at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, and now the clubs that played integral roles in shaping the talents of all 736 players at the tournament are to be rewarded.
“Strong clubs are crucial to the growth of women’s football, so distributing funding to over 1,000 clubs that have been instrumental in developing the world’s top female footballers is just one way that FIFA can offer its support,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino yesterday.
“What’s truly unique about this programme is that FIFA does not only reward the clubs that released the players for the tournament but also the clubs that have contributed to each player’s development between the ages of 12 and 22.
This development also means that most of the players who began their careers in Nigeria before their sojourn overseas will benefit from the gesture from the world football body.
“This model ensures that crucial funding as well as the incentive for clubs to provide the best possible training and environment for female talent – reaches every part of the global football ecosystem, benefiting grassroots and professional clubs.”
The number of clubs that were identified by FIFA as eligible to receive payments via the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 CBP increased by 219 clubs from 822 in 2019 to 1,041 in 2023. Positively, the number of clubs across FIFA’s Member Associations also increased from 39 in 2019 to 48 in 2023.
Each club’s share has been determined by the role that they played in a player’s development or participation in the tournament, either as a releasing club, a training club, or both.
Each eligible releasing club will receive an equal amount per player per day at the tournament, counting from the beginning of the release period (10 July 2023) and finishing the day following the last match of the player’s national team at the tournament.
Each training club will receive an amount based on the number of training periods the player spent at the club between ages 12 and 22, with each year consisting of a maximum of two training periods. The number of days that the player spent at the tournament is also factored in, however, the number of minutes played by a player in any given match at the tournament is irrelevant, with all players treated equally based on the number of days that they were at the tournament.
In the 1,043 clubs, UEFA dominated in numbers with 581 Asia Federation was next with 151 clubs while CONCACAF was next with 108 just as COMEBOL followed with 95 and then CAF with 76 clubs and Oceania Federation took the rear with just 30 clubs.
The 2024-2025 women’s interclub football season will officially kick off on Wednesday, 24 July, with the draw for the CAF Women’s Champions League qualifiers in 4 zones: UNAF, UNIFFAC, WAFU B and CECAFA.
The draw will be conducted at 10:00 GMTat the CAF Headquarters in Egypt and live-streamed on CAF TV and CAFOnline.com.
Below are the teams entered by zone and the dates of the qualifying tournaments:
WAFU B (10 – 23 August): Ainonvi FC (Benin), Hasaacas Ladies (Ghana), Inter d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), AO Étincelles OU USFA (Burkina Faso), AS Garde Nationale (Niger), Edo Queens (Nigeria), ASKO de Kara (Togo).
UNAF (21 – 31 August): CF Akbou (Algeria), Tutankhamun (Egypt), AS Far (Morocco), ASF Sousse (Tunisia)
CECAFA (17 August – 4 September): PVP Buyenzi (Burundi), FAD (Djibouti), CBE FC (Ethiopia), Kenya Police Bullets (Kenya), Kawempe Muslim (Uganda), Rayon Sports (Rwanda), Yei Joint Stars (South Sudan), Simba Queens (Tanzania), Warriors Queens (Zanzibar)
UNIFFAC (16 – 24 August): Lekié FF (Cameroon), TP Mazembe (DR Congo), Atlético de Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), CSM Diables Noirs (Congo)
With just eight weeks to their first match of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup Colombia 2024, Head Coach Chris Musa Danjuma has called up four goalkeepers, eight defenders, eight midfielders and 12 strikers to a training camp in the Federal Capital, Abuja in the first phase of preparation for the global tournament.
Team captain Oluchi Ohaegbulem is top of the list, with first-choice goalkeeper Faith Omilana, defenders Shukurat Oladipo and Comfort Folorunsho, midfielders Chinyere Kalu, Adoo Yina and Rofiat Imuran, and forwards Janet Akekoromowei, Flourish Sabastine and Aminat Bello also called.
Nigeria, a fixture at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals since the tournament began as an U19 event in Canada 22 years ago, will contend with three-time winners Germany, Asian powerhouse Korea Republic and South American representatives Venezuela in group D of the competition scheduled for three Colombian cities, 31st August – 22nd September.
All the invited are expected at Serob Legacy Hotel, Wuye, Abuja on Sunday, 7th July.
ALL THE INVITED PLAYERS:
Goalkeepers: Anderline Mgbechi (Delta Queens); Rachael Unachukwu (Nasarawa Amazons); Faith Omilana (Naija Ratels); Shukura Bakare (Nasarawa Amazons)
Defenders: Oluchi Ohaegbulem (Nasarawa Amazons); Jumoke Alani (Nasarawa Amazons); Shukurat Oladipo (FC Robo Queens); Oluwabunmi Oladeji (Naija Ratels); Folashade Adegbemile (Delta Queens); Chidera Okenwa (Delta Queens); Comfort Folorunsho (Edo Queens); Taiwo Lawal
Midfielders: Adoo Yina (Nasarawa Amazons); Olushola Shobowale (Nasarawa Amazons); Aminat Folorunsho (Rivers Angels); Chioma Olise (Edo Queens); Chinyere Kalu (Nasarawa Amazons); Joy Igbokwe (Naija Ratels); Rofiat Imuran (Stade de Reims, France); Zikora Agama (Naija Ratels)
Forwards: Delight Nwosu (Dannaz Ladies); Adaobi Okah (Remo Stars Ladies); Chiamaka Okwuchukwu (Rivers Angels); Chinaza Agoh (Delta Queens); Mary Nkpa (Heartland Queens); Chiamaka Osigwe (Edo Queens); Janet Akekoromowei (Asisat Academy); Mary Offor (Adamawa Queens); Flourish Sabastine (Stade de Reims, France); Sharon Ulumma (Heartland Queens); Aminat Bello (Otero College, USA); Reilly Adebowale (Bohemian FC, Republic of Ireland)
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