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FIFA President applauds Chile and New Zealand for historic cooperation agreement |
| Theallineed.com |
At the committee meeting in Zurich today (27 October), dealing with next year's FIFA U-17 and U-20 Women's World Cups, FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter welcomed a historic cooperation agreement. For the first time in FIFA's history and in line with the new legacy approach for youth competitions, the two Local Organising Committees (LOC) of New Zealand and Chile sealed a collaboration agreement reaching far beyond the support and synergies for the two events. The main objective is to promote a better understanding of women's football and to engage in joint initiatives in the pursuit of an enduring legacy for the host countries.
"I am very proud to be among those witnessing this great initiative, which I am convinced will act as a catalyst for women's football to become a standard-bearer in those two countries where it has not yet realise its full potential. This is a great example of solidarity in football," said the FIFA President, who was pleased to point out that, with the exception of FIFA executive members Chuck Blazer, chairman, and Franz Beckenbauer, the new deputy chairman, the committee was comprised only of women: "I am very happy that we now have an all female committee after so many years. And with Franz Beckenbauer we could not have found a better ambassador for women's football," he added. Furthermore, both Karen Espelund (Norway) and Suopu Po (American Samoa) were welcomed to serve on the committee by the FIFA President.
With a little more than a year to go until kick-off, the two respective LOC and associations presidents, Graham Seatter (New Zealand) and Harold Mayne-Nicholls (Chile), gave detailed reports on the current status of preparations including stadium renovation and construction. The presentations included dedicated programmes to create awareness among the respective countries' population, to encourage young girls to play and to create professional structures to improve their national teams' playing standards. One major element is the organisation of at least two four-nation tournaments in both countries in early 2008.
The committee declared itself delighted with the two hosts' professional and enthusiastic efforts, and in particular noted that Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark have committed themselves to acting as Honorary LOC President for their respective countries to emphasise their dedication to the long-term development of women's football as a means of bringing about long-term social changes.
On the matter of player eligibility for both competitions, the committee also gave its backing to a proposal that girls would be entitled to take part in as many U-17 and U-20 competitions as possible during their career as long as they were within the age limit. Other matters such as match schedules, qualifiers, logistics, marketing and television were also discussed. The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is scheduled to take place from 30 October to 16 November 2008 whereas a proposal for new competition dates for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Chile has now been forwarded to the FIFA Executive Committee for a decision to be passed next Monday (29 October). Both tournaments will be played in four venues: Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton and Wellington in New Zealand and Chillán, Coquimbo, Santiago de Chile and Temuco in Chile.
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