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Football Federation Australia (FFA) is to move to the final stages of a bid to host the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup with the support of the Australian Government.

Satisfied that Australia has a genuine chance of hosting the showpiece tournament, the Federal Government announced today in Canberra on Tuesday it will top up last year's initial $1 million offering for development and feasibility assessment with $4 million in funding for the formal phase of bidding.

Speaking at the announcement, Federal Sports Minister Bridget McKenzie said a home World Cup would showcase the country's "world-class female footballers ... world-class venues and a world-class experience for participants and spectators around the world."

At the announcement, FFA Chief Executive David Gallop stated “we welcome the partnership of the Australian Government in our bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023 and thank the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull and his ministerial colleagues for the strong support they have provided.

“I think it’s fair to say that the Westfield Matildas have become Australia’s favourite team over the past year and they are inspiring girls and boys around the country to take up football, which is already the biggest participation sport in Australia.

“We believe that hosting the world’s biggest women’s sporting event, the FIFA Women’s World Cup, would bring enormous benefits to the Australian community, not only promoting healthy, active lifestyles but inclusion and gender equality.

“We also believe hosting the tournament in 2023 would provide economic benefits and years of trade and diplomatic opportunities for Australia. The last FIFA Women’s World Cup, hosted by Canada in 2015, was attended by 1.35 million people and had a global television audience of 764 million, with 80 million of those in China.”

Gallop said the Australian Government funding would be used to support the appointment of a bid team responsible for the delivery of the final submission to FIFA. Bid working groups had been established in all States and Territories to work through the scope of the bid and tournament requirements.

He added “we’ve had a great response from the States and Territories and we will continue to work closely with them as well as the Australian Government.”

FFA can now set about formalising its bid to give the Matildas a chance of playing against the world's best on home soil.

However, with the memories of Australia's disastrous 2022 FIFA World Cup bid still fresh, the pressure is on to prepare a transparent proposal.

The governing body said it had sought answers from FIFA about how this process would be free of the corruption that infiltrated every aspect of the flawed 2022 campaign, when Australia's tainted $46 million bid gained just one vote.

1st February 2018 - FFA LAUNCHES NEW ESPORT LEAGUE

21st January 2018 - REVELATIONS FROM FORMER FFA EXECUTIVE SET TO REOPEN 2018 AND 2022 FIFA WORLD CUP HOSTING CONTROVERSY

11th January 2018 - FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE GRANTS AND WORKSHOPS TO DEVELOP WOMEN LEADERS IN SPORT

13th December 2017 - WESTFIELD MATILDAS AND SAM KERR TOP AIS SPORT PERFORMANCE AWARDS 

17th November 2017 - NEW AUSPLAY FIGURES SHOW FOOTBALL LEADS SPORT PARTICIPATION RATES IN AUSTRALIA 

12th September 2017 - LANDMARK PAY RISE FOR WOMEN FOOTBALLERS

28th July 2017 - A-LEAGUE CLUBS CALL ON FFA TO OPEN UP ACCOUNTS GOING BACK TO FIFA WORLD CUP BID

28th June 2017 - AUSTRALIA SLAMMED IN FIFA REPORT ON WORLD CUP BIDDING 

23rd June 2017 - GLOBAL STADIUM AWARDS RECOGNISE A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL AS ‘EVENT OF THE YEAR’ 

13th June 2017 - AUSTRALIA TO BID FOR FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2023 

21st February 2017 - PFA LAUNCHES AMBITIOUS VISION FOR FUTURE OF WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

3rd May 2016 - MATILDAS OLYMPIC PREPARATIONS LINK WITH GRASSROOTS FEMALE FOOTBALL BOOST 

10th June 2015 - FOOTBALL FEDERATION AUSTRALIA TO CEASE BIDS FOR FIFA EVENTS UNTIL ‘OVERHAUL’ 

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