Bhubaneswar: Navi Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bhubaneswar were on Friday finalised as the three venues for the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup football tournament to be hosted by India.
India is hosting the premier continental tournament from January 20 to February 6 next year. India is also scheduled to host the next edition of the FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup in 2022.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) general secretary Dato’ Windsor John, said: “Women’s football in Asia is world-class, and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the LOC have selected exceptional venues that will deliver a true spectacle befitting the stature of the tournament.
The DY Patil Stadium (Navi Mumbai), TransStadia (Ahmedabad) and the Kalinga Stadium (Bhubaneswar) will host the matches.
“The AFC is grateful to the AIFF, the LOC and the three host cities for their dedication and we are confident that the tournament will serve as a catalyst to take women’s football in India, which continues to make significant strides, to even greater heights in the coming years,” John said.
“We applaud them for their vision and wish the AIFF and LOC the very best of success in their ambitions to showcase their capability to stage a successful international showpiece.”
AIFF president and FIFA council member Praful Patel said: “We are excited to kick off the new year with the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar and Navi Mumbai have put in a lot of work to upgrade their footballing infrastructure.
“While we have seen Navi Mumbai deliver spectacularly in 2017 for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, we are taking the game to new places with Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad through the two women’s tournaments next year, which is really encouraging for our overall football ecosystem.”
The Qualifiers for the tournament are set to take place from September 13 to 25 in centralised venues with the draw scheduled to be held May 27 at the AFC headquarters here.
PNN/Agencies