The Australian government has confirmed that it will provide a further Aus$4m (€2.5m/$3.1m) in funding to support the country's bid to host the 2023 edition of the Fifa Women's World Cup, reports SportBusiness.
Football Federation Australia (FFA) said it was moving to the final stages of a bid for the national team tournament with the support of the government.
The commitment by the government to provide extra financial backing comes after it pledged an initial Aus$1m to the bid back in June. At the time it was outlined that the extra Aus$4m would be provided following the fulfilment of designated criteria and milestones, which have now been met.
FFA chief executive David Gallop said: "We welcome the partnership of the Australian government in our bid to host the Fifa Women's World Cup in 2023 and thank the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and his ministerial colleagues for the strong support they have provided.
"I think it's fair to say that the Westfield Matildas have become Australia's favourite team over the past year and they are inspiring girls and boys around the country to take up football, which is already the biggest participation sport in Australia."
Gallop said that the government funding would be used to support the FFA's appointment of a bid team responsible for the delivery of the final submission to Fifa, football's global governing body.
Working groups have been set up in states and territories across Australia to ascertain the scope of the bid and the tournament requirements.
Gallop added: "We believe that hosting the world's biggest women's sporting event, the Fifa Women's World Cup, would bring enormous benefits to the Australian community, not only promoting healthy, active lifestyles but inclusion and gender equality.
"We also believe hosting the tournament in 2023 would provide economic benefits and years of trade and diplomatic opportunities for Australia. The last Fifa Women's World Cup, hosted by Canada in 2015, was attended by 1.35 million people and had a global television audience of 764 million, with 80 million of those in China."
