Nigeria\u2019s hope of becoming the first African country to stage a global women\u2019s tournament was shattered on Friday as world football governing body, FIFA gave Central American countries of Costa Rica and Panama the nod to co-host the 2020 U20 Women\u2019s World Cup in August.<\/p>\n
FIFA on Friday confirmed that the women\u2019s showpiece will be co-hosted by Costa Rica and Panama after a series of successful meetings and inspections last month.<\/p>\n
The development means the West African nation, who was in the race to land the hosting rights, have finally lost out over its inability to meet FIFA conditions since an inspection in August.<\/p>\n
The confirmation also dashed Africa\u2019s hopes of organising the first-ever FIFA women\u2019s tournament on the continent next year.<\/p>\n
FIFA\u2019s chief tournaments and events officer Colin Smith told the press: \u201cWe would like to thank the Costa Rican and Panamanian football associations for their commitment towards women\u2019s football and the Fifa U-20 Women\u2019s World Cup in particular. We are looking forward to a fantastic competition in August.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corroborating Smith, Sarai Bareman, FIFA\u2019s chief women\u2019s football officer said: \u201cAfter the highly successful FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup in France this year, it is important that we build on the momentum at all levels of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe U20WWC in Costa Rica and Panama next year is a perfect opportunity for us to continue driving the popularity of the game and with it being the first jointly hosted tournament \u2013 we can make the impact even greater\u201d.<\/p>\n
With the hosts now known, FIFA is expected to announce further details on the number of stadiums that will host the World Cup matches, the dates for the tournament and the match schedule.<\/p>\n
Costa Rica will host the second Women\u2019s World Cup after organising the U17 tournament which was won by Japan in 2014.<\/p>\n
It is the first time a FIFA women\u2019s competition will be organised in two countries with 16 teams to compete in the 10th edition of the tournament next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria\u2019s hope of becoming the first African country to stage a global women\u2019s tournament was shattered on Friday as world football governing body, FIFA gave Central American countries of Costa Rica and Panama the nod to co-host the 2020 U20 Women\u2019s World Cup in August. FIFA on Friday confirmed that the women\u2019s showpiece will be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":19187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[294,174,115],"class_list":["post-19185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-fifa","tag-football-in-nigeria","tag-nigerian-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n