Danny Jordaan, president of SA Football Association (Safa), is pleased after a Fifa council finalised the bidding requirements for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
South Africa has made its intention clear that it will join the race to host the tournament and has already submitted letters of support from government and the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee.
Jordaan said South Africa is the only nation in Africa bidding to host the global event.
“I think that having seen the requirements, we know that most of those requirements have already been met or exceeded,” Jordaan, who is in Kigali, Rwanda for the Fifa congress, was quoted as saying by the Safa website.
“We have the stadiums, the training venues and the international broadcast centre [IBC at Nasrec], among others.
“All these things were tested in 2010 when we hosted the men’s Fifa World Cup. So, the infrastructure is done. This means 70% of the evaluation is already in place.
“The fact that we are the only African country that is bidding to host the Fifa Women’s World Cup, and the fact that we have infrastructure in place, are the two positives that will strengthen our chances.”
The bidding requirements place heavy emphasis on two categories:
- Infrastructure (70% of the score, which focuses on stadiums, team and referees’ facilities, accommodation, the IBC and competition-related events)
- Commercial (covers the remaining 30% and those are revenue streams, with broadcasting being the most important, and the cost of organising the event)
Recently, Jordaan has travelled to various locations across the world to lobby for support for Safa’s bid to host the event.
South Africa wants to join the US, Germany and France as the only countries to have hosted both the men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments.
Safa has a successful track record, and according to a Fifa report, South Africa delivered “the best World Cup ever in 2010”, which was Africa’s first and only World Cup to date.
Safa’s national executive committee will meet soon to discuss the next step, which will include an engagement with Sport Minister Zizi Kodwa.
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