The FIFA Women’s World Cup will create a “giant awakening” says Football Australia CEO James Johnson and spark a change in ladies’s sports activities from grassroots to elite stage.
The match continues to be 48 days away however Johnson stated soccer fever was already catching.
“I think we will see the giant awakening, because we’ve got the biggest sport in the world and one of the biggest sporting events in the world coming to our shores,” he stated.
“There will be 1.5 million people that will attend stadiums in Australia and New Zealand.
“Two billion people will actually watch from around the world – that is a big number, that is one quarter of the population.”
The occasion has proved so widespread FIFA will launch an additional 250,000 tickets subsequent Tuesday, throughout all 64 matches in Australia and New Zealand.
Johnson stated the occasion would create a legacy in two methods – the primary by way of the reminiscences of these watching. But it’s the second that may stay on lengthy after the a whole bunch of 1000’s of followers head residence.
“There has been a high level of investment in stadiums that will host matches at the competition. There have been upgrades to Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, Aimee Park in Melbourne and HBF stadium in Perth,” Johnson stated.
“Then there has been the establishment of the home of the Matildas’ in Melbourne, which is a world class, high performance facility.
“So these are fantastic for elite football whether it be the national team program or for fans of football that want to watch and have better experiences.”
Johnson stated it wasn’t simply the “top end of town” benefiting from the match.
“There is lots of investment that’s gone into community clubs, like Altona FC in Melbourne,” he stated.
“It is a great community club with boys and girls teams from the age of four all the way to senior teams, they are getting about $4 million of investment (jointly funded by the club, state and local government) into the club as a result of the Women’s World Cup. It means their main pitch will be redeveloped and they will get two extra pitches for community football.”
Johnson stated the funding and concentrate on the ladies’s sport was “just the right thing to do”.
“It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s a smart thing to do, because why have a sport that only half the population can enjoy or participate in,” Johnson stated.
“I think what we are seeing at the moment, I can only speak for football but I know there is a trend in other sports, is (women’s sports) just got twice as big because there is a lot more girls playing football now and a lot more girls watching and I think it is very much connected with the broader growth of women in sport.”
Legendary sports activities broadcaster Bruce McAvaney, who will co-host Channel 7s protection of the World Cup, alongside Mel McLaughlin, stated the legacy created by the match would rival that of the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
“Sydney was a pivotal point in women’s sport. Women’s water polo wasn’t played at the Olympics until our girls got down to the airport and commissioned the IOC to change those rules, then that magic Monday night with Cathy Freeman carrying the nation on her shoulders,” McAvaney stated.
“Her whole career was defined in 50 seconds, it was extraordinary that she could hold her nerve and do what she did and that’s a bit what these Matildas are going to go through.
“As big as we feel it is today, several weeks out, we don’t actually realise how big it is going to be.”
Originally printed as Women’s FIFA World Cup 2023: Australia, New Zealand match tipped to create lasting legacy
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
