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Already assured of receiving the warmest of welcomes for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, teams visiting Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand will feel right at home with the unveiling of an innovative Community Champions programme.
The multicultural fan engagement programme, which is designed to maximise community participation, increase awareness and drive attendances to matches during Australia & New Zealand 2023, is a first for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand are highly multicultural nations and a significant proportion of the combined populations have a direct or indirect connection with an overseas culture. From Melbourne/Naarm’s large Southeast Asian communities to Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau’s burgeoning East Asian diaspora to Sydney’s vibrant South American populace, connections to the 32-nation field are as varied as they are broad.
The programme kicked-off with recent highly colourful events in Sydney/Gadigal and Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau. In attendance were huge cross-sections of the local communities, providing a small but flavoursome taster of what teams and supporters can expect Down Under in July and August.
Engaging and reaching out to multicultural communities has proven effective during previous sporting tournaments in both countries, notably the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.
There are set to be some 150 community leaders in the programme chosen from up to 30 participating countries. Selected from football clubs, community associations, business leaders, community media and social media figures, the representatives will help build awareness and galvanise grassroots support for the respective communities during the tournament.
“The FIFA Women’s World Cup is a unique opportunity to showcase the diversity of our two host nations to the world,” said Dave Beeche, CEO of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia and New Zealand.
“Football fans bring passion to a match like no other sport, and we can’t wait for the communities of the participating teams to bring that colour, that energy and that unbelievable atmosphere to the tournament.”
