Paris, March 20 (IANS) French President Francois Hollande has expressed happiness after France was chosen by football’s governing body FIFA to host the 2019 women’s World Cup.
“This is tremendous news for the development of women’s football and for our country,” read the press release issued by the French presidency office on Thursday, reports Xinhua.
“The president of the Republic welcomes the choice and congratulate the French Football Federation and all those who helped,” it continued.
FIFA announced its decision to award the hosting rights for the 2019 women’s World Cup and the Under-20 women’s World Cup in 2018 to France.
Represented by French Football Association (FFF) president Noel Le Graet, the French bid team beat their South Korean counterparts with a unanimous decision taken by the FIFA executive committee on Thursday.
Five countries and regions declared their interest in hosting the events, namely England, France, South Korea, New Zealand and South Africa, but only France and South Korea submitted their official bid documents last October.
As the biggest single-sport event played by women, the FIFA Women’s World Cup is a quadrennial event started in 1991. The seventh edition is due to be played in Canada from June 6-July 5 this summer.
Canada 2015 will be the first women’s World Cup finals with a participation of 24 teams, eight more than previous tournament and 12 more than its first edition. Defending champions Japan have been the first team from outside Europe and North America to lift the title.
