Reason behind SAFA's withdrawal from 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup bid

By Velile Mnyandu
25th November 2023

South Africa’s decision to withdraw from bidding for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup might have come as a shock to some, but there had been signs that the bid has some serious challenges.

With 8 December 2023 fast approaching, and this being one of the main deadlines for the bidding countries to have submitted their official bid documents, the South African Football Association (SAFA) is believed to have been lagging behind.

SABC Sport had reached out to SAFA earlier this week to enquire about the latest on the 2027 WWC bid and how far they have come in terms of their preparations, but the bid team was not available to comment.

The submission of the official bids to FIFA would have been the most crucial phase of this bid, with the bid book having to detail everything – from host cities, stadia, and infrastructure that would be used during the tournament.

This is also the document that would carry government guarantees, where the cabinet commits itself to providing the necessary support in staging the World Cup in detail.

But all this crucial information was still missing at this stage.

South Africa staged a very successful men’s 2010 World Cup, in which government guarantees were the cornerstone of that tournament bid.

That particular bid book detailed the investment of billions of rands, including the building and renovation of stadiums around the country, road infrastructure, and many other areas that needed government support and funding.

Other countries in contention for the 2027 Women’s World Cup hosting rights included a joint bid from the USA and Mexico, Belgium, Germany and Netherlands, and Brazil.

SABC Sport has also learnt that the SAFA leadership behind the bid met with government on Thursday, which informed the decision to look at working towards a bid for the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup instead.

“We were very pleased by the support and advice from the Minister and Deputy Minister of Sport, when they encouraged us to work towards preparing a future bid,” read a statement from SAFA on Friday evening.

“In this regard, we felt it was better to regroup and present a well-prepared bid for the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup.”

The SA bid team, riding on hopes of becoming the first-ever African nation to stage the Women’s World Cup, had been touring the world gathering enough support from other confederations like the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Oceania, after already being endorsed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Tumi Dlamini, chairperson of South Africa’s 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup bid, is confident of launching a stronger bid for the 2031 edition.

“Whilst I am saddened that South Africa has to pull out of the 2027 bid, I have no doubt that we will come back with a strong and compelling bid for the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup. South Africa’s efforts to invest in women’s sports will and must be a priority,” Dlamini said in the SAFA statement.

The announcement of the 2027 Women’s World Cup host country will be made during a FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, on 17 May 2024.

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