If T&T’s senior women can clinch qualification for the Fifa Women’s World Cup next year, then this country will be part of the Fifa World Cup tour.
The tour is closely linked with Live Your Goals—Fifa’s long-term campaign to support women’s football development—and has therefore been officially named the Fifa Women’s World Cup 2015 Live Your Goals Tour.
Fifa Women’s World Cup 2015 winner’s trophy will set off on a journey to each of the qualified countries as Fifa looks to provide a platform for its member associations to promote both the event and women’s football.
The newly announced tour the Fifa Women’s World Cup 2015 winner’s trophy—which the tournament champions get to keep as a permanent reminder of their achievement—will be presented to the participating teams between November 2014 and March 2015, with each member association being responsible for proposing activities around the tour such as Live Your Goals festivals, workshops, stakeholder engagement events and media opportunities, including pictures with the trophy, Fifa stated.
Fittingly, on November 23, the tour will kick off in Switzerland as the competition’s first qualified country.
“This tour is a fantastic opportunity to drive international awareness about the Fifa Women’s World Cup while also underlining the commitment of Fifa to support its member associations in promoting and growing the women’s game,” commented Tatjana Haenni, Fifa deputy director of the competitions division and head of women’s competitions.
For each stop of the tour, Fifa and the host association will promote both the Fifa Women’s World Cup and the importance of women’s football development.
At present, 21 teams have qualified for the tournament with the final two spots (either Italy or the Netherlands from the European playoffs plus either Ecuador or T&T from the Conmebol/Concacaf play-off) to be determined by December 2 ahead of the official draw taking place in Canada’s National Capital Region on December 6.
German referee for T&T, Ecuador qualifier
German referee Bibiana Steinhaus has been appointed to officiate the Women’s World Cup playoff qualifier between T&T and Ecuador in Quito on Saturday.
Steinhaus was the first female referee in German professional football. She became a professional referee in 1999 by officiating matches in the women’s Bundesliga.
She was selected for the 2008 Fifa Under-20 World Cup, Uefa Women’s Euro 2009 and the 2010 Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup. She was selected to officiate the 2011 Women’s World Cup final between the USA and Japan.
Steinhaus was also selected to officiate the women’s football gold medal match in the 2012 London Olympics again between USA and Japan. She also officiates several German Bundesliga matches involving teams such as Bayern Munich.
The venue for Saturday’s match, Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa is a multi-purpose stadium in Quito and has a capacity of 40,948. The stadium is named after Inca prince Atahualpa. The stadium is located at an elevation of 2,782 metres (9,127 ft).
The venue has hosted several famous games for the Ecuador men’s team including two victories each over Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. They secured their qualification for the 2014 World Cup, remaining unbeaten at that venue during the campaign. The women’s team however have been beaten there before.