With just over a year until the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 kicks off at New Zealand’s Eden Park on July 20, Soccerscene chatted with a major driving force behind the tournament’s arrival on Australian shores, Jane Fernandez.
Fernandez, the Chief Operating Officer (Australia) of the Women’s World Cup 2023 team, spoke about the organisation of the tournament in the lead-in, the projected impact of the WWC 2023 on women’s football, and why Australia’s multicultural makeup is essential to bringing the tournament to life.
What has the organisation of the tournament been like in the lead-in to it? What is the day-to-day process like for you?
Jane Fernandez: It’s been really exciting and also hugely challenging setting up a local FIFA subsidiary in a COVID environment. We basically built a group on Teams, so it’s now fantastic that we’re at this phase where we’re all coming back into the office and can all work and talk together face-to-face.
It’s a huge honour to be a part of a start-up – which is what we are – across Australia and New Zealand. We’ve now hit a staffing number of close to 140 across the two countries, so there’s constant recruitment and building the team and foundations to make sure that we’re set up for success. It’s been hugely rewarding, and I think we’ve built a team of amazing professionals who are not only experienced in what they do, but hugely passionate about the FIFA Women’s World Cup and what it can do. That’s the culture that we’ve created here and it’s a real honour to be part of it.
What has it been like for the FWWC2023 team to interact with governing bodies and other sporting codes to collaborate on the bidding and organising process?
Jane Fernandez: Well, all of those discussions really started during the bidding phase – I started working on this project back in 2017 and it feels like a lifetime ago. At that point in time, it was a lot of discussions with key stakeholders, and all of our governments (state and federal). We could not be hosting this tournament without the support of governments and it was the federal government that supported our wish to bid when I was working for Football Australia back then.
During the bidding process we also got the other codes to work together because we have fantastic infrastructure in Australia and we want to make sure there’s room for everyone, which is what we’ve been able to achieve. So, that commitment and collaborating on scheduling was a really important part of the bidding process and pleasingly we were able to achieve that.
The WWC 2023 arrives at a crux moment in the fight for gender equality in football. How important is it in promoting women’s football?
Jane Fernandez: I think sport and football has the potential to be a catalyst for change, and I think we’re all very aware of that with the responsibility that we all hold in that space. FIFA developed a women’s football strategy a number of years ago and the development of the women’s game is front of mind for everyone in Zurich and also here and in New Zealand as well. FIFA has contributed and committed one billion dollars to the development of the women’s game for the cycle leading up to next year’s World Cup here.
We’re looking forward to building the foundations and making sure that we’re growing female leaders throughout all levels of our game, making sure that we’re increasing participation with that fantastic target of 60 million women and girls playing football by 2026. And of course, for the first-time ever, developing a standalone commercial platform which is incredibly important to ensure we develop the commercial sustainability of the women’s game. This is the first time that this has ever happened, and we announced Xero as a partner for that platform not long ago. So, we’re really excited and this is a real momentum shift in where we want to take the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
What are the strategies that the FWWC2023 team has in place to leave a sporting legacy behind after the tournament?
Jane Fernandez: During the bid, legacy was always the first thought – never the afterthought. And we’ve continued that as we’ve gone forward. Globally, as I mentioned, FIFA have the women’s football strategy with those clear targets that have been articulated and are starting to be delivered upon which is fantastic. The development and education of females right goes through all levels of the game – from refereeing, coaching, administration, leadership and of course players as well. Globally, FIFA are really driving that.
And then we think about the Asian Football Confederation and Oceania as well. For the first time, this will be the first tournament that is delivered over two confederations, which is hugely exciting because the potential for growth and the opportunity is just huge. So, both AFC and OFC are working together on their legacy plans and what they want to achieve from hosting the Women’s World Cup in their region for the first time. So, this cross-communication and collaboration is just fantastic.
And then we think domestically where Football Australia and New Zealand Football are developing amazing domestic legacy plans. In Australia – led by Football Australia with James Johnson as the CEO – we have Sarah Walsh, Mark Falvo, Peter Filopoulos and their respective teams as well who are really driving the Legacy ’23 plan nationally and working closely with all Member Federations. A number of these elements were front of mind during the bid, so of course participation is absolutely of paramount importance to achieve the target of 50-50 by 2027. But you can’t have that without infrastructure investment, and it was pleasing to see the success that Football Australia’s #Equaliser campaign had recently, ahead of the Federal elections to address the lack of female friendly facilities as we strive towards our 50-50 target.
What’s also important is investment into training sites, which is something that we are working with Football Australia on. We’ve already announced our first tranche of training sites with more to be announced. This is the first Women’s World Cup where there’ll be a base camp model, which from a legacy perspective is hugely important because it means greater investment into facilities right across the country.
There’s obviously the leadership pillar as part of Football Australia’s Legacy ’23 plan and making sure that we are developing female leaders, and we are doing that through the local FIFA subsidiary as well. There’s also the high-performance pillar which Football Australia is committed to with developing female players. And last but not least, there’s the international relations and tourism pillar. There’s no better way to remind the world that Australia is open for business than hosting the biggest-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup on our shores.
Legacy is always front of mind, definitely never the afterthought, and we’re all working hand-in-hand which is exactly one of the core values of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – which is about collaboration and is about team, and inclusion. It’s really important that we’re all working together to deliver these unbelievable outcomes.
It feels like the 2023 Women’s World Cup is arriving at a significant turning point in Australian football with the sport recently undergoing some rebranding and turnover of control.
What do you envision the impact of this newly introduced base camp model bringing for the 2023 Women’s World Cup?
Jane Fernandez: I’ve been to a number of men’s World Cups and I went to the Women’s World Cup in France, but I remember the first World Cup that I went to was in Germany when the Socceroos finally qualified. The Socceroos set a base camp in a little town called Erlangen, and it was this unbelievable little town, but seeing the power of a World Cup and what it can do with these smaller communities is something that really excites me.
Because while we’re going through the process at the moment of identifying the base camps, I can already see how some of these areas and suburbs (that might not be hosting games but will host teams) will come alive and really inspire young girls and boys to put on their boots, to play football and be a part of this amazing community. The opportunity is just huge.
With Australia being the multicultural country that it is, are you excited to see the nation come together for one massive tournament?
Jane Fernandez: Our multicultural nation is a really important factor for us, and we did this really well during the Asian Cup in 2015. It’s something we will also do extremely well during the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and that’s engaging with all of these different communities right around the country who will basically create a home away from home for every team that’s coming here. So again, it’s another really exciting opportunity that we are working on at the moment.
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