Venues for AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 confirmed! All you need to know -
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New Delhi, Mar 27: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced the venues for the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022. The DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, TransStadia in Ahmedabad, and Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar have been selected as the three venues for the continental championship. The Women's Asian Cup will kickstart on January 20 with the final set to be played on February 6 in 2022.
AFC General Secretary Dato’ Windsor John believes that the tournament will help women's football grow leaps and bounds in India.
“Women’s football in Asia is world-class, and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the LOC have selected exceptional venues that will deliver a true spectacle befitting the stature of the tournament. The AFC is grateful to the AIFF, the LOC and the three host cities for their dedication and we are confident that the tournament will serve as a catalyst to take women’s football in India, which continues to make significant strides, to even greater heights in the coming years."
All India Football Federation (AIFF), meanwhile, is focused on developing the Indian women's football ecosystem.
“We are excited to kick off the new year with the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022. Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, and Navi Mumbai have put in a lot of work to upgrade their footballing infrastructure," AIFF President and FIFA Council Member Praful Patel said.
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Let us have a closer look at the venues for the huge tournament.
1. D.Y. Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai
Inaugurated in 2008, the stadium is located on the outskirts of Mumbai having a seating capacity of 37,900. It was one of the six venues of the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2017. The stadium is capable of hosting multiple events and will be the largest venue of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022.
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2. TransStadia, Ahmedabad
It is relatively a brand new stadium as it was inaugurated on October 7, 2016. The multi-facility, convertible stadium, was host to the second edition of the Intercontinental Cup and it has a capacity of 20,000. Besides hosting two AFC Cup matches for Chennaiyin FC, it has also played host to a multi-team Kabaddi World Cup in 2016.
The stadium has a FIFA standard football pitch with an elevation of 4.8 metres as well as 14 hospitality boxes overlooking the pitch, which can be converted into guest rooms.
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3. Kalinga Stadium
The Kalinga Stadium has become an important sporting venue in the country in recent years. The stadium has hosted domestic football competitions such as the I-League, ISL (Indian Super League) and the Super Cup.
Originally built in 1978, the stadium has been utilised in sporting disciplines such as athletics, football, field hockey, basketball, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, wall climbing and swimming. It has the capacity of accommodating over 15,000 spectators.
AFC Women's Cup in India
The AFC Asian Women's Cup is the premier women's continental championship for AFC member nations. India had previously hosted the championship in 1980 which was also the first time a Women's Asian Cup was held in South Asia.
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After a series of deliberations and recommendations made by the AFC, India won the hosting rights again on June 5, 2020. The other interested countries in hosting the championships were Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan.
The Indian women's football team has already qualified for the tournament by virtue of being the hosts. Japan, Australia and China have qualified for the tournament by finishing as the champions, runners-up and the third-place winners respectively in the previous edition of the tournament in 2018.
The qualifiers to select the remaining 8 participating teams will be held from September 13 to 25 in 2021, the draw of which is scheduled on May 27, 2021.
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The 2022 AFC Asian Women's Cup is the second of the two international women's football competitions to be held in India next year, with the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's Cup being the other.