Australia is preparing to put itself forward to host the 2023 Fifa Women's World Cup after Fifa launched the bidding process for the ninth edition of the tournament, reports, www.sportspromedia.com/.

Fifa has set a deadline of 16th April for the submission of completed bidding registrations with a view to revealing the hosts of the competition in March 2020.

Australia is likely to face competition from Japan, which has also announced an intention to stage the competition, while South Africa and Colombia are among other potential candidates.

"Australia has a fantastic record of hosting sporting events and we are confident we will put together an extremely compelling case to host the Fifa Women's World Cup in Australia in 2023," said Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop.

Unlike the open vote that was held by Fifa last year to determine the host of the men's World Cup in 2026, soccer's governing body has revealed that it will revert to a secret ballot to decide the destination for the 2023 edition of the women's event.