Australia and New Zealand 2023 Women’s World Cup Joint Bid “Makes Sense”

With under a month to go before a bid book needs to be submitted to FIFA for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Football Federation Australia (FFA) chairman Chris Nikou has said a joint bid with New Zealand “makes sense”.

Australia and New Zealand are currently processing separate bids to host the World Cup, but the FIFA decision in July to expand the tournament from 24 to 32 teams, means the host country will need to have more infrastructure and resources in place than initially thought.

Nikou said a decision is expected to be made in the coming days but talks over a joint bid between the neighbouring countries have been really constructive.

“We’re still in dialogue with New Zealand and a decision will be made shortly as the bid book is due on December 13,” Nikou said.

“We’ve had a really constructive dialogue with Football New Zealand, and we have a great relationship.

“A dual bid makes sense, the competition going from 24 countries to 32 means we need to go from six to eight venues to eight to 10, it’s certainly a possibility,” he said.

With Australia’s major sport structure and the perfectly aligned June-July timing of the World Cup to the AFL and other major Australian competitions, Victoria’s Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Event, Martin Pakula, said no AFL venues, including the MCG, would be made available for the World Cup.

“I don’t think we’re the only city in Australia where ground availability is challenging,” Mr Pakula said.

“You have to provide almost exclusive access to the World Cup for a number of weeks,” he said.

Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, South Africa and South Korea are part of the eight nations remaining with Australia and New Zealand as contenders to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

After the final detailed bid plan from each nation is submitted by December 13, each nation will face a full evaluation at the beginning of next year, with a FIFA vote to take place in May, just three years before the commencement of the tournament.