Fifa, football’s world governing body, has stated that it has opened the bid process for hosting five of its biennial competitions: the Fifa U-20 and U-17 World Cups in 2017; the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup in 2017; and the Fifa U-20 and U-17 Women’s World Cups in 2016.
All of Fifa’s 209 member associations have been invited to submit their interest in hosting the competitions.
The U-20 World Cup was launched in 1977 and features 24 teams, making it the joint second largest Fifa event. Players that have appeared at previous editions include Diego Maradona, Dunga, Marco van Basten and Lionel Messi. The 2011 edition hosted in Colombia, attracted a worldwide cumulative television audience of over 500 million.
The U-17 World Cup also features 24 teams and is the third oldest of Fifa’s competitions.
The Beach Soccer World Cup will be celebrating its ninth edition in 2017, with 16 teams participating in the final competition and one stadium required. The competition lasts between 10 and 12 days and, accroding to FIFA “the location should echo the sun, sea and sand of Copacabana beach, the birthplace of beach football”.
The U-17 Women’s World Cup, Fifa’s newest competition, was held in Azerbaijan in 2012 and was dubbed a huge commercial success after four companies representing the main industries in the country came on board as national supporters of the tournament.
The U-20 Women’s World Cup is “the second most important women’s Fifa tournament and serves as a final stage of preparation for young players prior to the Fifa Women’s World Cup,” according to Fifa.
Fifa added: “The bidding timeline for these competitions requires the member associations who wish to host these events to submit a declaration of interest by 15 May 2013. The deadline to provide the hosting agreement with the complete Bid Book is 15 November 2013, with the final decision on the hosts currently scheduled to take place at the Fifa Executive Committee meeting in December 2013.”
