Australian Football chief executive James Johnson has said that “all eyes will be on football” during the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and he believes the tournament will change the direction of sport in Australia.
New Zealand host Norway in the opening game of the tournament at Eden Park in Auckland on Thursday, before the Matildas play the Republic of Ireland at the sold-out Australia Stadium in Sydney. Next, Australia and New Zealand host two weeks of group play followed by 15 knockout matches – 11 in Australia. The tournament culminates in Brisbane and Sydney, with the third-place match at Lang Park on August 19 and the final at Stadium Australia on August 20.
“It will be the biggest sporting event since the 2000 Sydney Olympics,” Johnson told ESPN. “The teams are here, they’re in New Zealand, they’re training, and the brand is up. The feel, the cultural feel of the World Cup, is in full swing.
“In Australia, we have content in five cities across the country. And if we go back to when we were designing the competition with FIFA, that was important to us. We didn’t want to just have a handful of cities on the east coast.
“We’re in major cities across Australia, five of them, they’re all pumping. And for those who’ve missed out…we’re working with FIFA to try and find places where the community can go and have a special experience and watch these matches.
“We will see the whole of Australia come to life through this tournament, and all eyes will be on football during this time. We will look back on this moment with fond memories obviously, but we will look back on it as a time that changed the direction of the sport.”
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The men’s A-League and Women’s A-League both take place in the Australian Summer so have not been postponed to July and August, but the Winter Aussie Cup and semi-professional National Premier League and community competitions will continue during the WWC. However, they were counted as part of Football Australia’s mission to dominate the calendar.
As part of this effort to keep football at the forefront, the Confederation has set the Round of 32 of the Australia Cup – the stage in which the men’s club knockout competition becomes national in scope – when the FA will celebrate rest days during the knockout stages. . Four matches will be held on August 4 and 9, including three on August 10, two on August 13, and three on August 14.
“It’s an opportunity to showcase great local football to the rest of the world,” Johnson said. “Because there will be a lot of people here in Australia during that time…and they’re here to watch football, right?”
The NPL and local competition scheduling falls under the purview of state member associations, but Johnson said work has also been done on that front.
“It’s been a very collaborative process and there’s coordination, without going into too many details, especially when the Matildas play,” Johnson told ESPN.
Meanwhile, Australian Football has released an updated version Legacy Report ’23touting a “150% increase in sponsorship from 2020-2023” and the construction of three new state football homes in South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria.
Johnson also told ESPN that work on the men’s Division II national competition is ongoing.
“we are in [request for proposal] He said, “The stage, which is the third stage of this process.” You’ll go underground, if you like, during the Women’s World Cup, but that doesn’t mean the business is slowing down. It is actually accelerating.
“But that was a strategic move. And, you know, we’ll eventually come out and hopefully have a second level that we can start in 2024.”
