ILOILO CITY — The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is recommending Iloilo as the host for the first FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup set for November this year.

PFF president John Gutierrez and FIFA council member Mariano Araneta, Jr. met with Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor, Jr. on Wednesday to pitch the proposal.

Aside from paying a courtesy call on the mayor, the football officials also visited the Iloilo Sports Complex and Central Philippine University in the city as possible venues for the group stage matches.

A FIFA technical team will soon inspect these locations to determine their suitability for the event and to finalize Iloilo's chances of hosting the inaugural event.

Defensor, meanwhile, assured his full support to Gutierrez and vowed to extend full assistance for the staging of the World Cup.

"This is a great opportunity to showcase Iloilo's love for football and our capability to host world-class events," Defensor said.

The inaugural sporting event will feature 16 countries divided into four groups. The top two teams from each group will move on to the knockout stages, leading to the quarterfinals, semifinals, a third-place match, and the final.

Four teams will come from Europe, three from Asia, two from Africa, three from South America, two each from North/Central America and the Caribbean, one from Oceania, and one from the Philippines to complete the 16-team roster as the host nation.

The Philippines was selected as the host country among six bidders that included Brazil, Spain and Italy.

The announcement was made at the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand earlier this May.

The FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup marks the fourth global women's competition organized by FIFA, following the FIFA Women's World Cup, FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, and FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

Read The Rest at :