Australia has officially launched its bid to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The FFA launched its “Get Onside” campaign on Monday morning in Sydney.
Matildas record goal scorer Lisa De Vanna urged all Australians to register their support for the bid.
“I’m really excited that we are bidding for the 2023 World Cup,” De Vanna said on Monday.
“When I think about it as a kid, I think back to my time in Perth and I never thought in a million years that I would be standing here and talking to you guys about bidding for a World Cup.
“There’s no bigger event or pinnacle to women’s sport or football than playing at a World Cup.
“I’ve played for 15 years in the national team and I’ve been to three World Cups and possibly a fourth one in six months’ time and there’s no bigger stage than playing that.
“I remember going and playing in Penrith and having 17,000 people sing the national anthem to me and there’s no emotion (like) that. And to be able to have that on home soil is fantastic.
“Now there’s little girls out there that can look up to us as role models and have an opportunity to play in the biggest game in the world, in Australia.”
De Vanna said Australia had shown it could host major events and hosting the Women’s World Cup would “cement” a changing culture of supporting women’s sport.
“Australians, we love winners. And we have inspired our nation by the way we play but mostly how we come across as human beings and dedicate and sacrifice for the sport,” she said.
“We’ve got the facilities, we’ve got the beaches, we’ve got the icons for it, for people to come on board and watch what we can do and host it.
“We’ve shown in the past that we can host great major sporting events and put on a good show because as Australians, it’s all or nothing.
“So here we are, bidding for something that’s major. So we want everyone to get on board because this is what it’s all about. For our future, and the change in women’s sport, because this will cement it and forever be in history if we do this.”
Meanwhile, Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop urged “all Australians to get behind the bid for the 2023 Women’s World Cup”, saying it would be good for the sport and Australia as a whole.
“It’s important to demonstrate to FIFA that the country is behind this, that it can be a great thing for women’s football, for football and for the country and we’re really excited that we move to the next phase for our bid,” he said.
“We’re already talking to the federal and state governments (about) training facilities et cetera, so getting those things in shape and waiting for the formal process to start over the next couple of months.”
Gallop confirmed the bid process will commence over the next few months, with the successful candidate expected to be announced by the middle of 2019.
He said a successful bid would take the Matildas’ influence and popularity “up another gear” and would have a positive impact on the country.
“This would turn things up another gear. The Matildas have been magnificent over the past couple of years, performed very well and when they’ve played on home soil, they’ve moved from 5-6,000 crowds to sellouts and we’re going to see that in the next couple of weeks at Penrith and Newcastle,” Gallop said.
“So this will be great for women’s football but it’ll be good for football generally. It will bring social and economic benefits to the country and it’ll increase the commercial value of the game generally.
“So there’s a lot to get behind with Get Onside.”
Source:foxsports.com.au
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