New Zealand has chosen to wait on a Women's World Cup bid, pulling out of contention for 2019. (Photo Copyright Patricia Giobetti)
And then there were three. In the same week that England announced it was pulling its intent to bid on the 2019 Women’s World Cup, New Zealand has done the same, leaving France, South Africa and South Korea as the remaining countries in contention.
Five countries declared their interest in May in bidding on the competition. Documents for official bids are due to FIFA by Oct. 31, with a host decision to be made at next year’s FIFA Executive Committee meetings.
New Zealand Football CEO Andy Martin said New Zealand originally expressed intent to allow for more time to investigate the potential for a bid, but Martin said 2019 is “too soon” for New Zealand to host the tournament.
“We signaled our interest in May to give ourselves time to investigate the full implications of bringing a tournament of this stature to New Zealand,” Martin said.
“After making a detailed financial assessment regarding the impact of hosting this major event on the football calendar, we concluded that the 2019 event will come too soon for us.
“We remain keen to consider hosting the Women’s World Cup in the future while we continue our significant investment in the development of the women’s game at both grassroots and elite levels.”
Canada, which will host next year’s World Cup, essentially ran unopposed in the bidding process. Citing financial issues, Zimbabwe pulled its bid shortly before the final decision was to be made on a 2015 host.
New Zealand has garnered attention for recent results, beating Brazil last September and then drawing the United States in San Francisco. The Football Ferns just played Brazil to two ties earlier in June in a rare pair of matches on home Oceania soil.
