India to host U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2020

NEW DELHI: India will host the U-17 Women's World Cup in 2020, International Football Federation (FIFA) President Gianni Infantino announced.

"We are delighted to announce that India has been confirmed as the host of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in 2020," Infantino said after the FIFA Council meeting in Miami, USA on Friday.

This will be the second FIFA tournament India will be hosting, after the U-17 Men's World Cup in 2017. Confirming the development, All India Football Federation General Secretary Kushal Das told: "We are thankful to FIFA for giving the right to host the U-17 Women's World Cup. This will raise the profile of women's football in the country.

"We have been giving a lot of emphasis on the development of women's football in the country. So we bid for the U-17 Women's World Cup and now we have got it."

The bidding process for the tournament started last year. France had also expressed interest to host the tournament. Das said the venues to host the mega event will be decided soon. "We have four-five venues in mind and we will finalise them soon."

As host country, India automatically qualifies for the 16-team showpiece event. The six continental qualifying tournaments are yet to begin.

Besides the U-17 Women's WC, India had also expressed interest in hosting the U-20 Women's World Cup. IANS

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