Jordan prepares to host AFC Women’s Asian Cup

AMMAN — Hosting the upcoming AFC Women’s Asian Cup (WAC) in the Kingdom is one of the steps taken by the Jordan Football Association (JFA) to enhance the local women’s football scene, said Farah Badarneh, CEO of the competition’s organising committee. 

Jordan is scheduled to host the next WAC in Amman between April 4 and 20, 2018. 

Badarneh described hosting the Asian cup as “important” as it is done in line with the JFA’s strategy to develop women’s football in Jordan.   

“When Jordan hosted the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2016, the country gained a lot from it and it encouraged us to organise this senior contest,” she told The Jordan Times at the JFA premises in Amman. 

Having advanced and modern football facilities was among the benefits gained through the organisation of the previous women world cup. 

Two stadiums in Amman will host the matches accompanied by six training pitches during the Asian Cup.  

“Our task is only to implement maintenance works targeting these stadiums and training pitches to upgrade them to international standards,” the JFA official said.  

The committee is paying great attention to the marketing and media streams to further promote the competition, she said.  

“Drawing fans to attend women football matches is not an easy task. We are going to launch campaigns to promote the tournament starting this month,” Badarneh added.  

She recalled that, during the world cup tournament, the goal of the organising committee was to bring families back to the stadiums. 

“But this time, we want local fan clubs to attend the games to cheer for the team because Jordan is competing, not only participating, so we try to target all parts of society,” she added. 

She stressed that they will work with the Ministry of Education to encourage school students to attend the matches, adding that they will also cooperate with the private and tourism sectors.  

 “We have been approached by the football associations of Japan and Australia, saying that many football fans will come to Jordan to cheer for their teams. Tourism offices should provide them with specific packages that include watching the matches, accommodation and a city tour,” she said.  

Commenting on the chances of the national team during the competition, Badarneh said that local fans should believe that Jordan is able to achieve a positive result in the competition, which will help in making them able to move towards the world cup, an achievement that none of the Arab teams have been able to accomplish so far.  

Badarneh said that eight teams will participate in WAC, divided into two groups. The two winning teams in each group will automatically gain access to the world cup. 

She added that the third team in each group will play against each other, with the winner joining the other four into the world cup. 

The competition’s draw will be held on December 9 at the Dead Sea.  

“We want the world to know that Jordan does not only participate but they are able to reach the world cup,” she concluded.