19 October 2022 – SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan will attend the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup draw to be held in Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday 22 October 2022.
Reigning African champions Banyana Banyana will know the identity of the teams they will face in their group in the tournament to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand next year.
Dr Jordaan’s trip is two-fold as the SAFA president will also use the time in New Zealand to tell the attendees and many others around the globe about South Africa’s intention to bid to host the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament.
The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) gave the SAFA president a letter of support ahead of departure and he will be carrying the hopes of not just South Africans, but the entire continent during his stay in Auckland.
“This serves to confirm that SAFA is a member of SASCOC and is a member in good standing,” the letter says. “We acknowledge that hosting of either Continental or World Tournaments in South Africa places the country at the highest level globally and adds value to our economy. National Federations are however required to adhere to SASCOC’s Protocol and Procedures for Bidding and Hosting of events and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture Bidding and Hosting Regulations of May 2010.
“SASCOC fully supports and appreciates such intentions with focus on addressing women development and growth. The recent achievements by Banyana Banyana attest to the commitments from your federation. We are therefore looking forward to SAFA making a superb presentation for the opportunity to host the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.”
There are several proposed bids for the 2027 World Cup, but South Africa and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands are the only ones that have been confirmed.
Chile, Italy, the United States of America, Mexico and the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) have all expressed an interest as well.
Much like the successful bid for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Dr Jordaan is aware that there is a long road ahead and South Africa will knuckle down to serious hard work in the coming months.
“We have the infrastructure, the stadiums, the hotels and the training venues, and what helps is that we have already hosted a World Cup of 32 nations in 2010,” Dr Jordaan says.
“The infrastructure is in place and we have the capacity to deliver. The world knows our capacity, they have seen the stadiums and they have seen our infrastructure.”
Dr Jordaan says Women’s Africa Cup of Nations champions Banyana Banyana will benefit immensely from playing the World Cup on home soil and their progress will be accelerated by the global tournament coming to South Africa.