NZF wants Cup to be a nationwide event
New Zealand Football chief Andrew Pragnell has described Fifa’s decision to bypass Christchurch as a host city for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup as a ‘‘fait accompli’’ and put it down to the temporary nature of Orangetheory Stadium.
But with four cities and stadiums locked in for the event two years from now, he is now focused on ensuring they are filled with Kiwi fans and that a legacy is left behind up and down the country.
Auckland, Dunedin, Hamilton, and Wellington were announced on Thursday as the cities that will host matches at women’s football’s showpiece event, alongside Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney in Australia.
Christchurch was one of three potential host cities put forward to miss out, alongside Launceston and Newcastle, but while Pragnell was ‘‘massively disappointed’’ by that outcome, he was determined the country’s third largest city – and other towns around New Zealand – would still be made to feel a part of the tournament.
‘‘It was primarily determined by the fact that it’s a temporary stadium and the standards for a Fifa tier-one event are very high,’’ Pragnell said.
‘‘That’s the essence of it, but we want to think about how we might involve Christchurch in other ways, like bringing team base camps to Christchurch.
‘‘I’m sure that the whole country is going to be involved in this.’’
There is also the matter of filling the venues – Eden Park, Forsyth Barr Stadium, Sky Stadium and FMG Waikato Stadium – that have been confirmed to host matches at the 32-team, 64-game tournament.
The attendance record for a women’s football match in New Zealand is believed to have been set at the under-17 World Cup in 2008, when 16,162 people attended the final between North Korea and the United States. Pragnell was confident the Kiwi public would eclipse those marks in 2023.
Eden Park has been confirmed as the venue for the opening match, which will feature the Football Ferns, and one of the semifinals will also be played in New Zealand, with the final set for Stadium Australia in Sydney.
The Football Ferns will be chasing their first win at a World Cup at the tournament, having not managed to secure one yet despite qualifying on five occasions.