FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will take women’s football to the next level in India – Sarai Bareman – football

The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup is just nine months away and with India hosting the tournament for the first time ever, a lot of eyes will be on the country and whether they will be able to replicate the success they enjoyed in 2017 when they hosted the men’s edition of the tournament. The tournament generally has four venues every year but this time, FIFA agreed to grant permission for five venues across India and on Tuesday, they unveiled the list of venues along with the team schedule as the countdown started for the tournament.

The matches of the tournament will be played across five venues – Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Navi Mumbai, Guwahati and Kolkata – with the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai hosting the final on November 21.

“There are very few countries in the world with professional women’s leagues. There are some in North America and a number of them are there in Europe. So, when you look at it from a global context, the Indian Women’s League is a good initiative from the AIFF and with this tournament will women’s football to the next level in this country,“ Sarai Bareman, Chief Women’s Football Officer at FIFA, said at the event.

“As we look to build on the incredible success of last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, as well as the legacy left from the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2017, the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in India provides an exciting opportunity, not just for the development of women’s football, but for fans across India and around the world to watch the next superstars of the women’s game,” Bareman added.

The Indian U-17 women’s football team is currently on an exposure trip to Istanbul where they held Romania to a 3-3 draw in the first match. AIFF President Praful Patel hailed the team’s performance in the encounter and hinted that the result will provide the youngsters with a lot of confidence ahead of their maiden World Cup appearance.

“Our team was able to play out a 3-3 draw against Romania and I am not saying that this means that we are ready for the tournament but a result like this will surely help in boosting their confidence,” he told the media.