.....Australia or USA may stage it
ZURICH, Switzerland - The Women's World Cup will be moved from China because of SARS, soccer's governing body said Saturday.
FIFA's executive committee made the decision at a rare weekend meeting. The fourth Women's World Cup was to be held in China from Sept. 23 to Oct. 11.
"It will be transferred to another country in view of the current health threat in China, which is greatly affected by the SARS epidemic," FIFA said in a statement.
FIFA said the United States and Australia have shown interest in staging the tournament, and that China would host the tournament in 2007.
"The FIFA administration will be clarifying the situation over the next few weeks, especially with regard to the timing of the championship," the statement said.
"The final competition should, ideally, coincide with the timing of that originally planned for China. Either the FIFA emergency or executive committee will pass the final decision."
The executive committee made the decision in compliance with a unanimous recommendation from the sports medical committee. It consulted experts at the World Health Organization and specialists in epidemiology and travel medicine in universities throughout Europe.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome has killed at least 436 people worldwide - the majority in China and neighboring Hong Kong - and sickened more than 6,100.
The women's ice hockey world championships, scheduled to be played in China, was canceled, and the world badminton championships, to be held in Birmingham, England, has been postponed because of the large number of Asians expected to compete.
On Friday, the International Cycling Union moved the world track cycling championships to Europe.
Sixteen teams are scheduled to take part in the Women's World Cup. The United States, Nigeria, Ghana, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Germany, Norway, Russia, Sweden and France have already qualified. China automatically qualifies as the host.
A qualifying tournament in Thailand was moved from April to June because of SARS. The draw to set the groups for the finals was postponed because of concerns over SARS.
Calls to the China Football Association went unanswered Saturday, a national holiday.
Although Australia is listed as a possible site, the scheduled dates would overlap with the rugby World Cup, which starts Oct. 10. Most of the major stadiums in Australia have arrangements to host those games.
The executive committee was also to discuss South America's proposal to expand the number of teams in the 2006 World Cup in Germany from 32 to 36 teams.
Other issues on the agenda for Saturday's meeting include whether players receiving a red card should continue to receive an automatic ban of at least one match.
Australia may stage relocated Women's World Cup
Australia may be a possible host for the 2003 women's soccer World Cup after FIFA decided the event will not be staged in China because of the SARS outbreak. World football's governing body said in a statement in Zurich on Saturday that its executive committee took the decision to move the event from China after examining advice from its medical committee. Last month acting Soccer Australia chief executive Stefan Kamasz expressed interest in hosting the tournament should the body be approached by FIFA. The United States, which hosted the 1999 tournament, is also viewed as an option to stage the September 23 to October 11 competition. One impediment to Australia hosting the tournament would be the considerable opposition from the rugby World Cup being held in Australia in October-November and a lack of mainstream interest in the women's game here. The Chinese government said on Saturday 190 people had died from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and 3,971 had been infected by the disease. FIFA's Executive Committee also decided that the next women's World Cup in 2007 would be awarded to China.
US set to talk with FIFA about hosting Women's World Cup
The United States is ready to meet with FIFA to talk over the financial and logistical headaches of taking over as host of the 2003 Women's World Cup on short notice after the event was removed from China. The 16-nation event was scheduled from September 23 to October 11, but that might change after the global football governing body's decision Saturday to take the event out of Asia because of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). FIFA officials are looking at Australia, Brazil or 1999 Women's World Cup host United States as a new home for the event. A decision on a new site will come no later than June 28, and likely much sooner. Contrary to reports that the event was certain to return to US venues, no discussions have taken place between FIFA and US officials. "We have not talked to FIFA yet and there is no imminent announcement," USA Soccer spokesman Jim Moorhouse said. That does not mean the US cannot handle the challenge or would not be a logical choice. The only profit in the 12-year history of the event came when the US hosted. The 100,000-seat Rose Bowl was packed to watch the US team beat China in the final in a shootout and record attendance greeted games in every city. Many top women from around the world already play in US venues in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), which like the men's Major League Soccer (MLS) could use the event to help boost marketing. "Clearly we are always interested in hosting events of this caliber, but being interested and actually hosting an event are two very different things," US Soccer president Robert Contiguglia said. "Given the incredibly short time frame it would take to pull this off, there are a great number of hurdles to cross in making something like this happen. "We will now meet with FIFA and have detailed discussions to see if it is either realistic or possible to actually host the tournament in the United States." USA Soccer would have to mobilize volunteer support in a short time period and would likely seek financial help from FIFA. One logistical hurdle is that many US venues from the 1999 event could be occupied on key dates because the event would fall during the American football season. The women's league is in financial trouble, with players taking pay cuts to keep it going, while the men's league has few financiers and minimal fan support. "Clearly the two pro leagues who have the infrastructure will play a role," WUSA spokesman Dan Courtemanche said. "We have expressed an interest in helping to put on an excellent tournament." Some WUSA players were among those concerned about going to China for matches because of SARS fears. "No soccer game is worth your life," American striker Brandi Chastain said. "I don't want to die," added Japan's Homare Sawa. Flynn said that while US officials do not want to travel to China, conducting the tournament is important for the global growth of the women's game. Uncertain in the switch is the final lineup for the tournament. The US team had already qualified while China, a world power, was set to play as the host. Whether a Chinese team would be allowed to compete at another site is in doubt. Asian qualifying has been rescheduled due to the SARS outbreak in the region, which means China might have to play its way into the field after all. Asian Women's World Cup qualifying was to have been in Bangkok last month but was postponed to June 10-22. That switch forced South Korea to cancel a planned exhibition match in Salt Lake City on June 14. Ireland will replace the Koreans in the US women's World Cup tuneup.
