FIFA women's U20 World Cup was last hosted by France in 2018. The next edition of the global competition will be in 2020 and Nigeria pitched its bid to become the next host. If the bid is successful, Nigeria will make history as the first African country to host tournament.
The two other countries also bidding to host in 2020 are South Korea and India.
Analysts believe the bid will either go to Nigeria or South Korea, since India was recently named the host of the 2020 U17 Women's World Cup tournament that will be held in March next year.
* What Are the Requirements and Nigeria's Readiness?
Well, the specifications according to Mainasara Illo, the coordinator of Nigeria's hosting bid, are based on the following issues;
The availability of suitable venues to host the games
The capacity of the stadiums
The management of the stadiums
The readiness of a country to host the tournaments
The extent to which the country appreciates women's football
The availability of other support facilities such as training pitches and hospitals
Did you know that Falconets, Nigeria's women U20 team made it to the under 20 World Cup in 2010 and 2014? And in 2014, the teams only lost to Germany 0 - 1 in the Final?
Nigeria has met all FIFA conditions concerning hosting, A few days ago, the FIFA inspection team of five people ( Christopher Exley, Kliment Taseski, Sara Jane Booth, Heyral Kaj Jurgen and Rhiannon Ceirwen Martin) landed in Nigeria to conduct a four-day inspection of the sporting facilities, equipment and infrastructure. They inspected facilities in 36,000 capacity Akwa Ibom International Stadium Uyo, 32, 000 Capacity Teslim Balogun Stadium Lagos, 25,000 capacity Stephen Keshi Stadium Asaba and 25,000 capacity Samuel Ogbomudia Stadium Benin City, which are the proposed venues.
Kweku Tandoh, the Executive Chairman of the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), stated that the Nigeria is ready to host the games. He asserted that Nigeria has sporting facilities that meet all of FIFA's requirements.
Nigeria has the capacity to host. The country had successful hosted FIFA Men U20 World cup in 1999 and are even better ready now
Women football is vibrant in Nigeria. We have the women league and federation cup, up and running each year. We usually have full capcity attendence when women play in stadiums like Samuel Ogbomudia in Benin, Teslim Balogun or Onikan stadiums Lagos.
All of the women national teams (and indeed, the Falconets) are well appreciated and supported in the country, so fans willingness to be at the stadium during the FIFA tournament in all of the chosen cities, are not in doubt at all.
*What Are the Implications of Nigeria Hosting the World?
Amaju Pinnick, the president of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), asserted that the country is ready and able to host the tournament. It will put Nigeria in the world's spotlight and an opportunity to redress misconceptions of nationwide hostilities in the country.
We are pose to showcase our rich football culture, friendships, hospitality...our vibrant entertainment industry as well as our rich natural vegetations and resources. That could attract investors to the various spectrums of the economy.
* Women football will be on the spotlight and it is an opportunity to draw more attention and interest both from fans, corporate bodies and investors. We are hoping to gain a lot of transfer of technology, management as well as administrative skills and development of sporting infrastructures.
If the bid is successful, FIFA will assist the country in hosting the tournament by giving the country at least $4 million. The support means that the country will not strain to host the games. The amount will help a long way in the improvement of the sports infrastructure in the country.
The desire for Nigeria to host the women's U20 World Cup is in line with the government vision of enhancing the economy via entertainment and sports. Of course, we will see a lot of small scale and medium businesses benefit from the hosting.
Although the verdict is not out yet, Nigeria remains optimistic that it will be granted the hosting rights. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo asserted that hosting the tournament was not only about the financial support from FIFA. The event would also serve as a unifying factor for Nigeria. He further stated that President Muhammadu Buhari, an enthusiastic football fan, was in full support of the bid.
