Football wants clarity on stadium rebuild for Women's World Cup bid

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With less than a month until the vote for the hosting rights for the 2023 Women's World Cup, Football Federation Australia is seeking certainty around the construction timeline for the ANZ Stadium rebuild, raising the possibility the project could be postponed until after the tournament.

The renovation was set to begin in July to transform ANZ Stadium into a 70,000-seater rectangular arena by early 2023, but NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian refused this week to guarantee the upgrade would proceed as planned as the government grapples with a potential $20bn hit to its revenue.

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Construction might not begin on the new ANZ Stadium until late 2023.

ANZ Stadium is a key part of the Australia-New Zealand joint Women's World Cup bid, prompting FFA to ask the state government to either proceed with the July redevelopment or delay the renovation until late 2023.

A redeveloped ANZ Stadium is listed as the only grand final venue in FFA's bid submission to FIFA ahead of the June 25 vote and a delay on construction by as little as a matter of months could jeopardise the availability of a suitable arena for the decider.

Senior sources within the FFA believe the NSW state government is committed to hosting the 2023 Women's World Cup, whether it be in its current form or after redevelopment.

"FFA is confident that whatever decision is taken regarding the timing of the stadium’s refurbishment will not impact its ability to host matches during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023," an FFA spokesman said.

A government spokesman was equally confident, saying: “Stadium Australia will be ready to host the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, should Australia and New Zealand win its bid to host.”

Under the strict guidelines set by FIFA, the grand final of the Women's World Cup must be played at a venue with a capacity of more than 60,000. ANZ Stadium is the only venue in the bid document that meets this criteria, with the 52,000-capacity Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane the next largest followed by Eden Park in Auckland which holds 48,000.

Should ANZ Stadium's renovations be delayed, FFA does not believe it will harm its chances of winning the hosting rights for the tournament, with the current format still meeting all of FIFA's criteria around capacity, facilities and standards.

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"The venue, which has a current tournament-mode capacity of approximately 75,000 people, has proven itself to be a fitting stage for some of the world’s biggest and most significant sporting events," an FFA spokesman said.

Labor's sports spokeswoman Lynda Voltz warned any delay to the stadium upgrade risked the joint bid of Australia and New Zealand.

"With FIFA currently assessing the bids from Colombia, Brazil, Japan alongside the joint Australian New Zealand bid now is not the time to be placing a question mark over what is the marquee stadium earmarked for the most important games,” Voltz said.