Uefa representatives on
FIFA council urged to vote for ColombiaAustralia and
New Zealand combined bid had been favouriteThe vote on Thursday to decide who hosts the 2023 Women’s
World Cup is believed to be tighter than expected after Uefa members of the Fifa council were encouraged to back Colombia rather than the combined bid from Australia and New Zealand.
Despite Australia and New Zealand’s superior score from Fifa’s technical evaluation of the bids, 4.1 to Colombia’s 2.8, the Guardian understands two members of the Uefa delegation rubbished the technical reports in a meeting attended by its Fifa council members and argued that because the Women’s World Cup was a “development tournament” its representatives should back Colombia. Uefa did not respond to requests for comment.