The AIFF general secretary suggested that hosting two big tournaments in 2022 will further raise the standard of women’s football in India…
On Tuesday, FIFA announced that the 2020 U-17 Women’s World Cup, which was scheduled to be held in India, has been cancelled due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Instead, India has been given the right to host the 2022 edition of the World Cup.
The competition was initially supposed to be held in November 2020. FIFA then revised the schedule and the tournament was supposed to be held in February and March in 2021 in India.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) general secretary Kushal Das thanked FIFA for awarding the rights to host the 2022 FIFA U17 World Cup once again to India. He also suggested that hosting two high-profile competitions like the U17 World Cup and the Women’s Asian Cup (2022) will benefit women’s football in India.
Editors’ Picks
- Anthony Elanga: Man Utd’s teenage wing wizard aiming to follow in Greenwood’s footsteps
- Farewell Mascherano: Alongside Messi, Argentina’s most successful modern player
- Guardiola no closer to new Man City deal with time starting to run out
- Suarez, Cavani… Nunez? Why Uruguay’s new striking sensation ‘will be the best in the world’
“We are thankful to FIFA for considering and allotting India the hosting rights for the Women’s Under 17 World Cup in 2022. India will also host the Women’s Asia Cup in 2022. For women’s football, this will be a great moment which can help take the women’s game to the next level in India,” said Das.
Goal 50 Revealed: The best 50 players in the world
Earlier this year, India were also given the rights to host the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. The competition will be held in October and November in 2022. Ahmedabad and Navi Mumbai are the likely venues for the competition.
The Local organising committee (LOC) of the FIFA U17 World Cup also expressed their disappointment over the cancellation of the competition in 2021 but suggested that the infrastructure development projects which they had undertaken will continue keeping in mind the 2022 editions of the World Cup and the Asian Cup.
The AIFF and LOC have developed eight new training sites in Ahmedabad and Bhubaneswar and have renovated the Kalinga Stadium.
