Canada bidding for FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™

The Canadian Soccer Association is bidding to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™. On the heels of hosting a record-breaking FIFA tournament in 2007, Canada wants to invite the world back for the premier women’s football event in 2015.
“We are proud that the largest participation sport in this country for girls and women is soccer,” said Canadian Soccer Association General Secretary Peter Montopoli. “Hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 provides exceptional opportunity for the hundreds of thousands of female soccer players in Canada to be inspired by the world’s best players and to support the national team as they represent their country on the international stage on home soil.”
Canada is one of several countries currently preparing its Bid Book to present to FIFA by 11 February 2011. In September, countries formally expressed their intent to FIFA to host the tournament and subsequently were provided the official bid guidelines. As part of the timeline, the Canadian Soccer Association has officially confirmed its bid intentions before the 26 November 2010 deadline.
Over the last two weeks, the Association has welcomed 40 participants to two Bid Information Sessions. The sessions were hosted in Ottawa, ON on 18 November and in Vancouver, BC on 24 November 2010. The session provided information to potential host cities for Canada’s bid related to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™ which also includes the hosting of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2014.
The sessions were organized to ensure that all interested parties are aware of their particular requirements to host these events. The Canadian Soccer Association is working closely with the federal, provincial and municipal governments to provide necessary information to ensure a successful bid is forwarded to FIFA.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup™ is hosted every four years, with the next event scheduled for 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany. For 2015, the event will expand from 16 to 24 participating countries and from 32 to 52 matches.
The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup is hosted every two years. As it is the new practice, every second tournament is hosted by the FIFA Women’s World Cup host nation, so both the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup are awarded together to the same nation. The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Germany 2010 ran 13 July to 1 August.
Canada has a strong history of hosting FIFA events, starting with the FIFA U-17 World Cup Canada 1987 which coincided with the Association’s 75th anniversary. Canada has since hosted the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2002 (inaugural event) and the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007.
In 2007, Canada hosted a record-setting FIFA U-20 World Cup, attracting close to 1.2-million spectators to the 52 matches and generating an estimated $259 million in economic activity. It delivered an excellent return for the government at the federal, provincial and municipal levels, supporting more than $43-million in taxes at those three levels.
The FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 was also the catalyst for building BMO Field, the National Soccer Stadium in Toronto. In turn, BMO Field helped return professional soccer to Toronto with the Canadian expansion to Major League Soccer.
In Canada, roughly 43% of all registered players are women, twice as much as it was eight years ago when Canada hosted the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2002. Canada has also enjoyed success on the international stage, winning CONCACAF championships in all three age categories since 2008. Those three titles were the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier, the 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship, and the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship.
Canada, whose title sponsor is Winners and presenting sponsor is Teck, recently qualified for its fifth consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup. With six-straight wins dating back to the 30 September home Women’s International Friendly match in Toronto, Canada is now the ninth-ranked country on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Rankings.