Australia and New Zealand, the organizers of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, marked a 100-day countdown to the start of the tournament on Tuesday with a call for gender equality in the sport.
The ball will start rolling on July 20 at Auckland’s Eden Park with a match between New Zealand and Norway, and will continue until August 20, when the final of the championship will take place, with 32 of them participating. National teams.
Football Federation Australia today used a countdown to highlight the “advances” made in support of gender equality in sport, but stressed there is more work to be done.
“Currently, only 40% of football facilities across the country are classified as female-friendly,” the agency underlined in a statement, calling for “investment” in Australia’s more than 2,400 women’s clubs.
“The Women’s World Cup is important for providing opportunities to increase the participation of girls and women in football and sport in general. We must work together to ensure this becomes a reality,” the country’s sports minister said in the same statement. Oceanic, Annika Wells.
Meanwhile, Australian Federation director James Johnson in a speech highlighted the organization’s plans to “revolutionize” national women’s football as a result of the competition, which aims to “become the first community sport in Australia to achieve gender equality”. .
For his part, New Zealand Sports Minister Grant Robertson stressed in another statement this Tuesday, “Coordinating an event of this scale will create enormous social and economic benefits for New Zealand and leave a lasting legacy for football and women’s sport in this country”.
The noise of the World Cup
For its part, soccer’s highest governing body FIFA today launched the “Unity Beat” (“Rhythm of Unity”) campaign in Australia and New Zealand, described as a song that tries to “capture the energy” of the tournament and celebrate the championship.
As the ‘Unity Beat’ plays across the tournament’s nine cities, fans around the world know it’s time to come together and create a truly unforgettable atmosphere. From the streets to the stadiums, the Unity Beat will be a call to action. Fans remember what unites them: football,” FIFA Secretary General Padma Samura said in a statement.
US captain Becky Sauerbrunn today thanked the two hosts for their “hard” work to make this edition “the best World Cup in history”, in a letter to New Zealand newspaper Stuff.
“This tournament will not only showcase the talent and potential of the world’s best female footballers, but also demonstrate the value of women’s empowerment and development,” the footballer praised New Zealand, where she will be playing. The first round of the competition was “for her commitment to gender equality and women’s rights.
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