Adelaide will not be part of Australian bid for 2023 FIFA women’s World Cup
Adelaide will not join a bid to host the 2023 FIFA women’s World Cup – because Hindmarsh Stadium is too small and using Adelaide Oval would disrupt the AFL.
Adelaide will not be part of an Australian bid for the 2023 FIFA women’s World Cup because Hindmarsh Stadium is inadequate for the international games.
The Advertiser understands the State Government has written to Football Federation Australia, which has been co-ordinating the bid, to declare South Australia will not join in.
Hindmarsh has a relatively limited capacity of 16,500, has two rather than the required minimum of four changerooms and would require upgrades to floodlighting, corporate, media and its VIP facilities.
Adelaide Oval has been ruled out because of disruption to the AFL.
Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister David Ridgway told The Advertiser the decision followed “a comprehensive event analysis” and stadium “challenges”.
Displacing hundreds of thousands of AFL fans for at least six weeks would be prohibitively costly and impractical, he said.
“Furthermore, the process did not provide any certainty around which countries would play at Adelaide Oval, nor an ability to secure games beyond quarterfinal matches,” he said.
Mr Ridgway said the State Government had demonstrated support for women’s sport through investing in infrastructure at grassroots and elite levels, as well as funding events such as the women’s Tour Down Under, Australian Open Golf and a new tennis event starting in January.
But Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas said sports fans would be disappointed, particularly young girls who would have been inspired by watching the Matildas play in a home World Cup.
He said the failure to join an Australian bid called into question the seriousness of the State Government’s consideration of pitching for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
“It would seem peculiar that the State Government is pursuing the Commonwealth Games but apparently doesn’t have the ability to host a women’s World Cup game,” Mr Malinauskas said.
FFA announced its intent to bid in 2017 and received $5 million in funding from the Federal Government to prepare the submission.
Colombia, Japan and South Africa have also expressed interest in hosting the biggest women’s single sporting event on the planet.
An Advertiser survey in April revealed majority support for a new indoor stadium in Adelaide’s Riverbank precinct, with options at Memorial Drv and the city railyards being considered. The latter includes a retractable soccer pitch and is understood to have been costed at about $700 million. Both options rely on selling the Adelaide Entertainment Centre at Hindmarsh, which might gain about $30 million to defray an arena’s cost.
The Advertiser last September revealed a business case for an indoor stadium was being prepared.