Conclusion of successful FIFA delegation site inspection marks important milestone around FIFA World Cup 2027™ bidding process

• Four-day FIFA delegation BNG site visit covering numerous competition venues across Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany.
• Delegation updated on ongoing plans and efforts around all aspects of BNG bid.
• BNG focused on shaping a bid that will deliver historically impactful Women’s World Cup aiming to enhance efforts to accelerate and deepen the global development of women’s football.  

A team of senior BNG officials were delighted to welcome from 30^th January to 2^nd February a high-level FIFA delegation to Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany for what was a successful four-day inspection site visit. The visit comes following the delivery of the BNG bid book on 8^th December and marks an important milestone around on-going efforts to secure the hosting rights for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027™.  

FIFA delegation provided with a detailed insight into BNG’s ambitious bid Vision and Strategy  

The visit kicked off on 30^th January with the FIFA delegation being provided with a detailed overview of the bid from senior executives from the Belgian (RBFA), Dutch (KNVB) and German (DFB) federations in Dortmund, Germany. Details were outlined on the overall BNG Vision and Strategy and the ambitious and record-breaking targets that have been set around key bid pillars both in relation to the competition itself but also its wider impact on the development of the global game.  

Central to BNG’s focus is for players and fans to enjoy a welcoming, pleasant, and safe experience. To ensure this, the competition will be hosted in a compact vicinity centered around the borders of the BNG countries. This will limit travel between venues delivering cost efficiencies while maximizing efforts around sustainability by minimizing the competition's overall carbon footprint. This will also enhance rest and recovery periods for players whose travel demands will be low. Transport links between venues are some of the most modern and efficient in the world ensuring fans’ mobility in the most comfortable and secure manner. High quality accommodation will be guaranteed for players and fans with choices available to cater for the demands and needs of supporters from around the world. FIFA delegates were also presented with details of BNG commercial strategy which aims at setting new records for a FIFA Women’s World Cup through optimizing opportunities that exist in terms of the sale of broadcasting rights, sponsorship and ticketing.  

The wish for the FIFA 2027 Women's World Cup™ to act as an accelerator of the development of the women’s game and support FIFA’s ambitions plans in this area has driven much of the planning and shaping of the BNG bid. In this context, FIFA delegates were provided with details around efforts to leverage increased participation, enhanced management, and increased female empowerment through a successful BNG bid.    

Site visits organised at key venues across Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany  

Throughout the 4 days, FIFA delegates visited numerous sites across Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany that will act as a key competition venues. Inspections of stadiums, training facilities, team hotels, fan festival sites across Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Brussels, Eindhoven, Zeist, and Amsterdam were all part of the detailed program that formed part of the visit providing first-hand insights to FIFA delegates. The visit provided strong visibility around the overall quality of venues from both a sporting and fan perspective and highlighted the historical and natural beauty of some of Europe’s most famous cities. It also focused attention around the easy and fast access the compactness of the competition would offer and the positive impact this would have on maximizing efforts with regard to sustainability targets.  

Following the conclusion of the FIFA delegation’s visit, Pascale Van Damme (President, RBFA), Just Spee (President, KNVB) and Bernd Neuendorf (President, DFB) stated: 

“We were delighted to welcome the FIFA delegation to Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany over the past few days. The visit provided us with a unique opportunity to share details of  the ambitious Vision and Strategy behind the BNG bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027™. The delegation was able to view at first hand key elements behind the logistical planning that has been put in place covering both participating teams and fans. In addition, they were able to witness the focus and hard work that has been invested to deliver a World Cup that seeks to scale heights not seen been before in the history of this prestigious competition both in terms of the tournament itself but also its wider impact in supporting FIFA’s efforts in developing women’s football globally. Our ambition is to deliver a local tournament with a global impact aiming not just to meet the requirements and targets set by FIFA across all areas of the bid but, where possible, in surpassing these and living up to the BNG stated aim of Breaking New Ground.” 

BNG’s focus in the months ahead 

With the FIFA Congress scheduled to vote for the FIFA Women’s 2027 World Cup™ host on 17 May the BNG bid team will, in the coming weeks and months, heighten efforts to profile and highlight the bid’s merits to National Associations from across the world and pursue our journey in seeking to gather support and endorsement in hosting the most ambitious and impactful Women’s World Cup ever as we seek to build on the hugely successful 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup by taking the Competition to the next level.