The Homeless World Cup Foundation, organisers of the inspirational Homeless World Cup, is delighted to announce that its first ever formal host city bidding process has received a record-breaking 57 expressions of interest from potential host cities around the world.
The charity launched the bidding process to find future host cities for the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions of the event in June this year.
Having chosen to partner with London based event-tendering specialists, The Sports Consultancy, the Homeless World Cup Foundation has demonstrated the results that can be achieved through running a highly targeted and structured bidding process which clearly articulates the transformative benefits and impact that this event can have on host cities.
The next phase of the process asks bidders to complete an Applicant Questionnaire by 21st October 2019. Following this deadline, the Homeless World Cup Foundation and The Sports Consultancy will evaluate all applications and confirm the shortlisted cities that will progress to the Candidate phase. The evaluation team will then visit all Candidates in February and March 2020, and the host(s) will be announced at the 2020 edition of the event which will be hosted in Tampere, Finland in late June 2020.
The Homeless World Cup, first held in Graz in 2003, is an annual football tournament that strives to use the power of football to change lives. It brings together more than 450 players from all over the world, all of whom have faced homelessness and social marginalisation.
Commenting on the interest Mel Young, Founder, Homeless World Cup Foundation said:
“It is hugely satisfying to see the strong global appeal our event, reflected in the number of cities around the world interested in hosting future editions. We are thankful to the work of The Sports Consultancy whose professional approach is clearly having a meaningful impact.”
Matt Wilson, Director, Consulting at The Sports Consultancy, added:
“We are delighted with the response we have achieved so far. We see real value in this event and look forward to working with the cities who have expressed an interest as they develop their bids. It is of utmost importance to us that we deliver a structured and professional process and feedback to date has indicated our interested cities value this approach highly.”
