May 24 – World governing FIFA has brought the bidding process for the Women’s World Cup into line with the process for the men’s equivalent following an amendment of the organisation’s statutes at Congress that will in future see all member associations vote for the host country.
The global governing body had already announced the overhaul of the decision-making process following a wave of criticism when FIFA awarded the 2023 Women’s World Cup to Australia and New Zealand with the Council deciding the hosting rights. For the 2026 men’s World Cup, all of the FIFA membership cast a vote.
To streamline both processes, the FIFA Congress on Friday ratified an amendment to the statutes that will remove the Council as decision-making body and shift that authority to Congress for future bidding processes for the Women’s World Cup. In Congress, all eligible member associations have one vote each.
In an address, FIFA’s chief legal officer Emilio Garcia highlighted Zurich’s commitment to the women’s game before moving on to explain other amendments to the statutes, the proposals of which were duly passed.
The governance committee was merged with the audit and compliance committee, becoming the governance, audit and compliance committee. “Many duties and functions assigned to two committees are closely connected and frequently overlap,” explained Garcia the rationale behind the merger. “For the sake of efficiency and efficacy it appears logical to combine the two committees.”
Alongside a series of miscellaneous amendments, the football tribunal replaced the players’ status committee, whose legislative and policy-making functions have been usurped by the football stakeholders committee.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1713559907labto1713559907ofdlr1713559907owedi1713559907sni@o1713559907fni1713559907