By Michael Madyira
South Africa’s bid to host the 2027 Fifa Women’s World Cup has just received what could be a tough challenge after the USA and Mexico confirmed an interest in jointly staging the tournament.
The North American countries have already informed Fifa they intend to submit their bid ahead of the 19 May deadline.
Another bid by Brazil, as well as a joint interest between Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, have already been registered.
Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have also expressed intention to submit a combined bid, while Chile and Italy are also interested.
But it is the emergence of the USA and Mexico that could make it difficult for South Africa to convince Fifa they can organise this tournament.
The US women’s national team is the most successful in this tournament and could influence the bidding process.
“The United States has always been a global leader for the women’s game, and we would be honoured to co-host the world’s premier event for women’s soccer along with Mexico,” US Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said on Wednesday.
But Safa president Danny Jordaan is confident South Africa’s “functional hotels and training venues” will win them hosting rights.
With incessant power cuts in South Africa worsening, the odds seem to be stacked against Safa’s quest to host another global football tournament after the 2010 World Cup.
Arguing that they had standby generators as backup in 2010, Jordaan says he is not losing any sleep over the prospect of load shedding during the tournament.
What could work against the USA and Mexico is that Fifa might opt against concentrating major tournaments in that part of the world since the USA and Mexico will host the 2026 Men’s World Cup together with Canada.
When Safa prepares to submit their final bid, there could be a public uproar about the government committing funds to a World Cup amid the social and economic meltdown in South Africa.
It could be similar to the outrage witnessed after the proposal to sponsor Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.
Pictured above: Banyana Banyana players
Image source: Banyana Banyana
