USA Selected to Host Women's World Cup in 2003 - 2003-05-26

FIFA announced in a statement that the Women's World Cup will be held later this year in the United States. On Monday, the FIFA Board chose the USA over Sweden to host the tournament. This decision came just three weeks after the tournament was suspended due to fears of the SARS virus from China. The FIFA Emergency Committee, believing that the United States is best prepared to host the tournament with 16 teams in a short timeframe, made this selection. The statement adds that the exact dates of the matches will be announced soon. However, the timing of the matches will be approximately the same as the original dates (September 23 to October 11) with minor changes to the schedule. The Emergency Committee also decided that the Chinese national team will retain its automatic qualification to participate in the tournament (as the host) and the allocation of quotas for each confederation will remain as before. The United States successfully hosted the Women's World Cup in 1999, with over 90,000 people witnessing the USA's victory over China in the final in Pasadena, California. A news report stated that the quarter-final matches will be held at JFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.