Women’s World Cup will win over the sceptics, says Fifa president Gianni Infantino

AUCKLAND – Fifa president Gianni Infantino said women’s football has experienced incredible growth over the last 10 years and is confident that the World Cup will win over anyone who remains sceptical about the merits of the women’s game.

The sport’s governing body expects two billion people to tune in to the 64-game tournament being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, with the event kicking off in Auckland on Thursday.

“Many people who believe that women’s football is still not a great game, or it’s not so entertaining or it’s kind of a bad copy of men’s football or some stuff like that – well when they watch a game for the first time they will actually see that it’s a fantastic game,” said Infantino.

“The level has grown incredibly in the last 10 years and the best are coming here.”

Infantino said if there was one sport where the women’s game could compete with the men’s, it would be football.

“I mean, it’s 50 per cent of the population, women around the world, more or less, right?” he said.

“It’s really inconceivable, intellectually, that there is not one sport that can compete with some of the men’s sports.”

There have long been concerns about ticket sales in New Zealand, which will stage the opening game on Thursday when the co-hosts face Norway at the 50,000-capacity Eden Park in Auckland.

Australia play Ireland in the second game on Thursday in a sell-out at Sydney’s Stadium Australia, which can hold about 80,000 fans.

Fifa secretary-general Fatma Samoura said that 1.375 million tickets have been sold for the month-long tournament, surpassing the figure for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.

That tournament had 24 teams, compared to 32 for the upcoming one.

As of late Wednesday, tickets were still available on Fifa’s official website for almost all World Cup matches, including New Zealand’s clash with former champions Norway and both semi-finals.

“My only message that I want to get out here is seize the moment, be proud of what you have been able to achieve here, in New Zealand, in Australia,” said Infantino.

“Be proud of what will be the biggest event – not just sports event – that has been organised here so far,” he added at a press conference that was far more muted than his interventions at last year’s men’s World Cup in Qatar.

“Today I feel tired because I just landed, but I feel very happy,” he said in a playful nod to a controversial speech he delivered in Doha when he claimed to feel “gay”, “disabled” and “a migrant worker”.

Sitting alongside Infantino – who was more reserved than usual – Samoura said Fifa had reached its “expectation in terms of numbers” of tickets sold.

“However, we still have tickets available for some matches, so my only plea is don’t wait until the last moment,” she added.

REUTERS, AFP