The football supreme body had indicated their willingness to host the three tournaments, but they have resolved to invest all energies in two to maximise chances of success.If Zimbabwe were awarded the right to host the women’s Under-20 tournament they would automatically organise the senior women’s World Cup finals in 2015.Zifa has since communicated the new position to Fifa.Acting chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze said that they had resolved to concentrate on the two events because Zifa felt it had better chances of winning the bids.“We will go for the women’s event, we have better chances of getting that one as it has never been hosted in Africa,” said Mashingaidze. “The men’s event was last hosted by Egypt so they (Fifa) may want to take it elsewhere. We have a better chance with the women’s events. On the other hand, the women’s event will give us the opportunity to host two World Cups in two years which would be a positive step in the development of the game locally.”Zifa will present a bid document to Fifa on February 11 next year ahead of the power point presentation which will be done in March.The bid document will have to be accompanied by a letter of support from the government which Zifa has already been guaranteed.Germany hosted the women’s Under-20 finals earlier this year and they will host the senior women’s finals next year.Meanwhile, Zimbabwe will back South Africa’s bid for the 2015 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals after being promised support by their neighbours in a bid to host the women’s World Cup finals.Zimbabwe had initially expressed interest in hosting Afcon 2015 but abandoned the idea after South Africa had expressed interest in the same event.“We can’t compete against each other within the region,” said Mashingaidze. “We will support South Africa on their bid to host that tournament and they will do the same in our endeavour to bring these World Cup tournaments to Zimbabwe. We have a very good chance of getting them because contrary to what people think our infrastructure is good, in fact much better than some of the countries that have hosted these tournaments before.”Zifa is trying to use the success of the 2010 World Cup staged in South Africa as a weapon to bring the women’s tournament to Zimbabwe.The women’s tournament, whose next finals are set for Germany, have never been staged in Africa.— Staff Writer.
