By Paul Nicholson
April 28 – Football focus may be on end season results and the upcoming Copa America and European Championships, but behind the scenes the Women’s game is making its own mark breaking new ground in unusual places.
On May 30 the draw for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2016 will take place in Amman, Jordan. The local organising committee announced its first national sponsor this week for the finals that kick off September 30. This week also marked the 200-day countdown to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea, to be played this November.
The Jordanian FA and its president Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein have been supporters of women’s football and the opportunity it brings. The announcement of Manaseer Machinery Trading as the first National Supporter of the tournament brings a boost to their preparations.
Manaseer Machinery Trading will play an active role in the promotion of the tournament. As well as providing financial support, the company is committed to “contributing to the LOC’s efforts to rally local community support behind the tournament and to increase public engagement in women’s sports.”
While the Jordanians prepare to welcome the world’s best U-17 teams in a landmark tournament for their region, Papua New Guinea has been ramping up its preparations for the U-20 women’s finals and has been finalising broadcast arrangements this week with the visit from representatives from Host Broadcast Services (HBS), Mediapro and Transvision who are the transmission service providers to the host broadcasters and FIFA TV.
“Right now, we have a team of host broadcasters including FIFA TV who are in the country to map out the best possible camera positions for the telecast of the tournament. It’s very important for them because they will be running the broadcast coverage of the matches to 100 countries around the world. It will be an opportunity for Papua New Guinea to show the world that we can,” said Local Organising Committee chief executive officer Seamus Marten.
The finals will be played from 13 November to 3 December and an estimated 200 million TV viewers are expected to tune in from 100 countries worldwide.
“The coming months will be exciting because we will be launching the mascot, the trophy and the balls that will used during the tournament. We also have the tri-nation’s series between the PNG Women’s U-20 and USA and Japan, so it is quite an exciting build up for us,” said Marten.
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