LYON: FIFA will seek to expand the Women’s World Cup from 24 to 32 teams and double the prize money while maintaining a significant financial gulf with funding for the men’s tournament.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino will need quick approval from ruling bodies to enlarge the Women’s World Cup, with bidding already underway for the 2023 edition. The process would have to be reopened if countries are forced to find the stadiums to accommodate more teams and additional games.
“We will need to act more quickly if we want to have 32 teams already in 2023,” Infantino said Friday. “We will discuss it as a matter of urgency and see if we can already decide to increase for 2023 in which case we should re-open the bidding process and allow everyone to have a chance to organize or maybe co-host for some of those who have been bidding already for a 24-team World Cup.”
The 37-member FIFA Council had been due to vote on the 2023 Women’s World Cup host in March 2020, with nine countries expressing interesting in bidding.
The nine, including recent men’s World Cup hosts Brazil and South Africa, must submit formal bid plans by Oct. 4. The other contenders are Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, which could bid with North Korea.
“Nothing is impossible and based on the success of this World Cup of course we have to believe bigger and to do what we should have done already probably some time ago,” Infantino said ahead of Sunday’s final between the United States and the Netherlands. “But now we have the evidence to do it for women’s football.”
Infantino previously prioritized enlarging the men’s World Cup, with a jump from 32 to 48 teams when the United States co-hosts with Canada and Mexico in 2026. A bid to fast-track expansion for the 2022 tournament in Qatar collapsed in May due to logistical and political barriers.
That event will see teams splitting prize money of $440 million and $209 million will be made available to clubs releasing players.
But women’s teams earn significantly less for competing at the women’s showpiece. Even doubling the prize money, team preparation funding and cash for clubs releasing players — as Infantino disclosed Friday — will only lift the figure to $100 million.
Infantino has, however, pledged to introduce two new women’s competitions: a Club World Cup and league for nations between World Cups.
“We can develop national team football only if we develop club football as well all over the world, not only in a few countries,” Infantino said. “So we need a club World Cup which can be played every year to expose clubs from all over the world and to make men’s clubs, but also women’s clubs, invest even more in women’s football.”
Infantino said FIFA would double investment in women’s soccer to $1 billion but later clarified that much of the funding would be reserved for soccer federations to request for specific projects that would require approval from the governing body.
FIFA’s cash reserves at the end of 2018 stood at $2.74 billion.
“We don’t need all that money in Swiss banks,” Infantino said.
FIFA looks to expand Women’s World Cup from 24 to 32 teams after ‘best ever’ tournament in France
FIFA looks to expand Women’s World Cup from 24 to 32 teams after ‘best ever’ tournament in France
Australia depth shows up England’s Ashes ‘failures’
SYDNEY: A well-drilled Australia are on the cusp of retaining the Ashes after just six days of cricket — not bad for a team lambasted by England great Stuart Broad before the series began as its weakest since 2010.
The hosts take a 2-0 lead into the third Test at Adelaide on December 17 needing only a draw to keep the famous urn and pile more humiliation on Ben Stokes’s tourists.
Australia have put themselves on the brink despite missing injured pace spearheads Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, with the performances of stand-ins Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett a reflection of their depth.
“The great and the healthiest thing for Australian cricket right now is that they’ve got almost a second XI or an Australia ‘A’ side that could come in and play some outstanding cricket too,” said former Australia Test quick Brett Lee.
“The guys who have had their opportunity, the Doggetts and the Nesers, have stood up. They’ve taken their opportunity and taken it with both hands, which is brilliant.”
The strength of the country’s talent pool was driven home by Australia ‘A’ crushing England’s second-tier side by an innings and 127 runs at Allan Border Field while Stokes’s men were being thrashed down the road in the second Test at the Gabba.
Young prospects Fergus O’Neill, Cooper Connolly and Campbell Kellaway stood out, while discarded Test batsman Nathan McSweeney fired a double-century reminder to selectors.
It is a far cry from the pre-Ashes war-of-words where England were hyped as having their best chance in a generation to win a series in Australia, with seamer Broad’s comments coming back to haunt him.
“It’s probably the worst Australian team since 2010 when England last won and it’s the best English team since 2010,” said Broad, who retired in 2023 and is now working as a pundit.
“It’s actually not an opinion, it’s fact.”
At the time, he pointed to questions over the make-up of Australia’s batting line-up and a perceived lack of bowling depth.
Both have been blown out of the water.
On the go
Australia went into the first Test in Perth dogged by uncertainty, with the uncapped Jake Weatherald as Usman Khawaja’s sixth opening partner since David Warner retired nearly two years ago.
In a quirk of fate, Khawaja was unable to bat in the first innings because of back spasms with Marnus Labuschagne replacing him.
But it was when he pulled out again in the second innings and Travis Head stepped up that the tide turned on England with his stunning 69-ball match-winning century.
“Ever since Travis Head stuck his hand up to open when Khawaja got hurt in Perth, Australia have looked like a different team,” said Australian legend Glenn McGrath.
Labuschagne said Head and Weatherald’s confidence trickled down to the lower order in Brisbane, where himself, Steve Smith and Alex Carey all blasted quick-fire half centuries.
It leaves selectors with a dilemma for the third Test: recall now-fit 85-Test veteran Khawaja or persist with Weatherald and Head, whose home ground is Adelaide.
Smith, who stood in for Cummins as skipper in the first two Tests, attributed Australia’s success so far to being able to adapt “in real time.”
“We play ‘live’. We adapt on the go, instead of getting back in the sheds and going, ‘We should have done this’,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s just playing the long game. I think we’ve just adapted so well the last couple of years, and played in real time, I suppose.”
For former Australia captain Greg Chappell, Australia’s success has been as much about England’s failures.
While their aggressive “Bazball” approach might be suited to flat English pitches and small grounds, it has been brutally exposed by the bigger boundaries and demanding conditions in Australia.
“The failure that has ensued across the first two Tests is a whole-of-system one, a catastrophic breakdown of both the game plan and its execution,” he wrote in a column.
“While the players have been the immediate culprits, the off-field leaders — Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes — are equally responsible for not recognizing the different challenges presented by Test cricket in Australia.”
