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U.S. will host World Cup, Spartan among possible sites

May 26, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Jose CyberRays News Release


SAN JOSE (May 26, 2003) – The 2003 Women's World Cup will be played this fall in the United States, and the San Jose CyberRays' home at Spartan Stadium is among the venues under strong consideration by U.S. Soccer to host one or more doubleheaders.

FIFA, soccer's international governing body, had earlier withdrawn the World Cup from China because of concerns about the outbreak of SARS there. Today FIFA announced it had selected the U.S. bid over one submitted by Sweden to fill in as host country.

``It's only fitting that our country should step forward in this unusual time to host another World Cup,'' said Marlene Bjornsrud, CyberRays general manager. ``The success of the 1999 World Cup was directly responsible for the formation of the WUSA, the world's only fully professional women's soccer league, and the support of Bay Area fans was the primary factor in locating the CyberRays in San Jose. We fully support Spartan Stadium as a venue for the championship of the world's largest women's sports event.''

Approximately 50 WUSA players will represent their home nations in the World Cup, and CyberRays will play for the United States, Australia and Brazil.

In a national media teleconference today, U.S. Soccer officials said they plan to stage the every-four-years women's world championship in approximately the Sept. 23-Oct. 11 time frame planned by China, and that they would use between four and seven stadiums from coast to coast. All games would be played as doubleheaders, and officials said they are leaning toward a plan similar to that used in 1999, which would bring the U.S. team to each host city once.

In response to a question about Spartan Stadium, Dan Flynn, U.S. Soccer's secretary general, said ``Clearly it's a positive that they've hosted games in the past.'' The two Spartan doubleheaders in the 1999 World Cup drew crowds of 23,298 and 21,411. The USA-Brazil semifinal played at Stanford Stadium on the Fourth of July drew 73,123.

As the original host country, China does not have to qualify for the 16-team World Cup. The United States has already qualified for one of the North American berths. In all, 13 World Cup spots are decided:

China – former host country
Canada, United States – CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean)
Russia, France, Sweden, Germany, Norway – UEFA (Europe)
Australia – OFC (Oceania)
Ghana, Nigeria – CAF (Africa)
Brazil, Argentina – CONMEBOL (South America).

Of the remaining spots, two will be decided in the Asian qualifying tournament in June at Bangkok, Thailand. The final berth will be decided in a playoff between Mexico (CONACAF 3rd place team) and the nation that finishes third in the Asian qualifying tournament.

Because there are only about 120 days to organized the tournament, U.S. Soccer rather than a private organizing committee will stage the event with U.S. Soccer President Dr. Bob Contiguglia as president and Flynn as CEO. The WUSA, headed by president and CEO Lynn Morgan, and Major League Soccer, headed by commissioner Don Garber, will be involved in U.S. Soccer's effort.

U.S. Soccer hopes to announce venues and schedules next month and expects the tournament to be televised on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.

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Women's United Soccer Association Stories from May 26, 2003


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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