Australia, New Zealand mark one-year countdown to Women's World Cup
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 [July 20, 2022]
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Colourful
ceremonies in Australia and New Zealand marked the one-year
countdown to the ninth Women's World Cup on Wednesday, culminating
in the lighting up of landmarks across the nine host cities.
The 32-team tournament, the first Women's World Cup in the southern
hemisphere, will kick off in Sydney and Auckland on July 20 next
year when Australia's Matildas and New Zealand's Football Ferns play
their opening matches.
A cultural lighting ceremony started the day at dawn in Hamilton,
New Zealand, while FIFA Secretary-General Fatma Samoura was later on
hand to unveil a "Unity Pitch" beside Sydney harbour.
"Today the gap between the men's game and the women's game is going
to get smaller and smaller," she told reporters.
"We've seen after each World Cup that the number of people who
register in the host country, but also in the countries that were a
part of the game, is immediately multiplied by three."
Samoura said football's global governing body was discussing raising
the prize pool even further to $100 million.
The prize pool for the 2019 tournament in France, won by the United
States, was $30 million and FIFA have already committed to a $60
million pot for next year.
BOOMING PROFILE
The 2019 tournament attracted record crowds and TV audiences,
sparking an explosion in the profile of the women's game that
organisers hope next year's World Cup will further accelerate.
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The Sydney Opera House lights up in celebration of Australia and New
Zealand's joint bid to host the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, in
Sydney, Australia, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott
While the powerhouse United States team will be favourites to lift
the trophy for the third tournament in a row at Sydney's Olympic
Stadium on Aug. 20 next year, there was some good news for co-hosts
Australia on Wednesday.
Matilda Ellie Carpenter was at the Sydney celebration and confirmed
she was on schedule to be fit to play in the tournament after
sustaining a serious knee injury on club duty in France in May.
The defensive mainstay said she was thrilled at the prospect of
playing in the showpiece of the women's game in her own country.
"I think this is going to be one of the biggest events," she said.
"So I'm very happy to be a part of it ... and here on home soil,
there's nothing better."
The Unity Pitch will tour each of the host cities over the next
year, while Samoura will later turn on a light display featuring the
tournament logo on Sydney's Harbour Bridge.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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