PARIS (AFP) - UEFA’s head of women’s football Nadine Kessler has dismissed claims European football’s governing body lacked ambition in the selection of venues for Euro 2022, with attendance records for the tournament in England set to be smashed.
Sell-out crowds for the opening game between England and Austria at Old Trafford and the final at Wembley will see the record crowd for a match at a women’s European Championship broken twice.
However, in between those two landmark events on July 6 and 31, the other 29 games will be played in much smaller stadiums.
The selection of Manchester City’s 4,400 capacity Academy Stadium for three group matches was branded “embarrassing” and “disrespectful” by Iceland midfielder Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir.
The 7,800-capacity Leigh Sports Village will also host four matches, including a quarter-final.
Ticket sales are inching towards a combined half a million, more than double the total attendance for the last women’s Euro in the Netherlands five years ago.
But there are still over 200,000 tickets up for sale and Kessler admitted venue choices had to be based in “reality” to create the best atmosphere possible inside the stadiums.
“We feel like still it’s the right decision,” Kessler told AFP.
UEFA’s head of women’s football Nadine Kessler has dismissed claims European football’s governing body lacked ambition in the selection of venues for Euro 2022, with attendance records for the tournament in England set to be smashed.
Sell-out crowds for the opening game between England and Austria at Old Trafford and the final at Wembley will see the record crowd for a match at a women’s European Championship broken twice.
However, in between those two landmark events on July 6 and 31, the other 29 games will be played in much smaller stadiums.
The selection of Manchester City’s 4,400 capacity Academy Stadium for three group matches was branded “embarrassing” and “disrespectful” by Iceland midfielder Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir.
The 7,800-capacity Leigh Sports Village will also host four matches, including a quarter-final.
Ticket sales are inching towards a combined half a million, more than double the total attendance for the last women’s Euro in the Netherlands five years ago.
But there are still over 200,000 tickets up for sale and Kessler admitted venue choices had to be based in “reality” to create the best atmosphere possible inside the stadiums.
“We feel like still it’s the right decision,” Kessler told AFP.
The tournament had been due to take place in 2021, but was delayed 12 months due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the football calendar.
Covid-19 halted some of the momentum of the women’s game after a record-breaking 2019 World Cup in terms of viewing figures.
But the five years since the last Euro have still been transformative for the women’s game.