SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 26: Maria Eduarda Francelino Da Silva of Brazil celebrates with fans ... [+]
In a three-horse race for the next Women’s World Cup, Brazil had always been something of an outsider. FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, had good reasons to prefer the joint North American bid of Mexico and the United States or the European bid of the triumvirate of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany (BNG): those two bids represented core markets that could deliver guaranteed revenue and a pathway to equal prize money after the tournament in faraway Australia and New Zealand.
But earlier this month the US and Mexico dropped out and last Tuesday FIFA’s own bid evaluation report pointed to Brazil as the bidding candidate with the best credentials. The BNG bid was marked down with a score of 3.7. Brazil got 4.0.
The European bid was knocked down because of a high-risk score on its legal framework. The report noted on Belgium, the junior partner of BNG: “Specific areas in which the level of commitment required by FIFA has not been met include taxes, immigration procedures, labour law, and safety and security… FIFA is exposed to potential unanticipated financial liabilities and operational delivery risks.”
FIFA also identified tax risks in the Netherlands and highlighted some problems in Germany. Zurich is accustomed to benefiting from major tax breaks as part of host contracts in countries that stage the World Cup. To stand a chance in a World Cup bidding process, prospective host nations cannot deviate from a demand that FIFA deems crucial to its operations and the well-being of its officials.
The BNG bid always had specific issues: small stadiums, Belgium as a minor co-bidder, Europe’s unpopularity in the rest of the world, and Gianni Infantino’s dislike of the UEFA region. This was perhaps best embodied by Belgian FA boss Pascal Van Damme, one of few female presidents in the world, who delivered a message of sustainability and diversity to sway other soccer associations. Those concerns have hardly ever convinced the FIFA family, even if the technical evaluation stressed BNG’s ‘compact tournament footprint’.
Van Damme had no qualms about lobbying in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, countries with controversial human rights records. The Europeans targeted Asia and Africa, vote-rich confederations, and were present at the Club World Cup in Jeddah last December and both the Asian Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations at the start of 2024.
At that time, Brazil was yet again in the midst of an institutional crisis. A Rio court had removed CBF chairman Ednaldo Rodrigues from the presidency, ordering fresh elections. They were never staged. FIFA stepped in behind the scenes to keep Rodrigues, a FIFA Council member, in power.
Any such crisis should have decimated a bidding nation’s chances of landing the hosting rights, but in this race, even after the US dropped out - the Americans have a decade of soccer to look forward to with the 2025 Club World Cup, the 2026 World Cup, the 2028 Olympic soccer tournament and a potential bid for the 2031 Women’s World Cup - all is not what it might seem like.
FIFA judged the legal aspects of the Brazilian bid to be low-risk. The bid evaluation report noted that “…to make the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 a successful or more successful than the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, among others by implementing a similar event law.”
At the time, Brazil implemented a special World Cup law to bypass its own legislation. FIFA however left Brazil exasperated, happy to leave the country’s bureaucracy and notorious inertia behind. The current high score for Brazil then comes as something of a surprise, even though the South Americans have solid arguments: Brazil delivered a successful 2014 World Cup, and the region has never welcomed a Women’s World Cup.
A CBF insider said that it all boiled down to what Infantino wants. It’s the Congress that for the first time will vote on the host award but the influence of Infantino, an executive president, cannot be underestimated.
Perhaps Infantino’s championing of Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup offers the main clue. South American governing body Conmebol relinquished its dreams of hosting the 2030 World Cup with all too much ease, settling for just three matches. Is the 2027 Women’s World Cup then a consolation prize for South America? It would explain why Brazil has been so confident that in 2027 another major tournament will come to its shores.
