UEFA women’s football chief Nadine Kessler has dismissed claims that European football’s governing body lacks ambition in selecting venues for Euro 2022, an attendance record set to be broken for the tournament in England.
The opening game between England and Austria at Old Trafford and a sold out crowd for the final at Wembley will see twice the record crowd for a match at the Women’s European Championship.
However, between those two historic events on 6 and 31 July, the other 29 games will be played in much smaller stadiums.
Manchester City’s selection of the 4,400-capacity Academy Stadium for three group matches was termed “shameful” and “disgraceful” by Iceland midfielder Sara Björk Gunnarsdottir.
7,800-capacity Leh Play The village will also host four matches, including a quarter-final.
Ticket sales are approaching half a million in total, more than double the total attendance for the last Women’s Euro in the Netherlands five years ago.
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But there are still more than 200,000 tickets for sale and Kessler acknowledged that venue choice must be based on “reality” to create the best atmosphere inside the stadium.
“We think it is still the right decision,” Kessler told AFP.
“I always say that while trying to have the biggest ambition we can’t even lose sight of the reality and I’m a thing of the past. If we don’t count the matches in the Netherlands, our previous Women’s Euros averaged 5,000. were spectators.
“If you increase the tournament capacity from 430,000 to 720,000, I don’t think you can say that the tournament organizers don’t have enough ambition.”
– From ‘visible difference’ to 2017 –
The tournament was scheduled to take place in 2021, but was delayed by 12 months due to its impact coronavirus Pandemic on the football calendar.
Record breaking 2019. After Covid-19 halted the pace of the women’s game World Cup in terms of viewing statistics.
But the five years since the last Euro have still been transformative for the women’s game.
Kessler was behind major changes in the Women’s Champions League last season with the first group stage going on.
The money has come from new sponsorships, television rights deals and clubs that are now willing to spend big on improving the standards of their women’s teams.
On what to expect on the pitch, Kessler said, “My expectations are really high, I expect a clear difference in 2017.”
“I already felt it when I watch some domestic football, but also throughout the Champions League season.
“Both showed that there has been a huge improvement in what happened with increased professionalization and standards surrounding teams in many countries throughout.
“It’s only logical that you can see the results on the pitch as well.”
Kessler was part of the German side that won the Euro in 2013 – eight times Die Nationallf has won the tournament in 12 editions.
However, it is hosts England and Spain who are the pre-tournament favorites as they look to win a women’s major tournament for the first time.
France, Netherlands holder and Olympic silver medalist Sweden are realistic contenders, while Norway’s Ada Hegerberg and Denmark’s captain Pernil Harder will also share their nations with two of the world’s top strikers.
“It’s cool that so many contenders, so many teams, have publicly declared ambitions that they all want to go for it,” Kessler said.
“The top of the pyramid widened a bit. That’s exactly what we needed to generate more interest.”
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