The visit of the FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy to New Zealand in December was a special occasion for this country, recognising as it did the efforts of the Football Ferns to fly the flag on the world stage via their qualification for Germany 2011. Indeed, the women’s game in this country is held in very high regard by rival nations the world over, as well as by FIFA, the sport’s governing body, who have been greatly impressed with both the growth and progress of the game over the course of the last six years. FIFA’s Head of Women’s Competitions, Tatjana Haenni, was one of the party who accompanied the trophy on its tour, and the opportunity to conduct an in-depth interview with such an influential figure in women’s football was one not to be missed … JR:  Tatjana, it’s now twenty years since the inaugural Women’s World Cup Finals took place. What are the three most significant changes you have seen in the Finals in that time? TH:  "The number of teams participating in Women’s World Cups. In the first one, there were twelve teams. We now have sixteen, and in 2015 it will be twenty-four, so we’ll see some teams who’ve never qualified for the Women’s World Cup before. "From a development, business-related perspective, it has changed from a sport which had to fight for acceptance and, at the early stage, to get public acknowledgement that women play football, to a sport where it is semi-professional, in terms of how athletes perform, how often they train, how they look after themselves. It was purely an amateur sport in the beginning, and now it’s a professional sport. "Nowadays there is money involved, too, so there are players making a living out of football, which, in the beginning, was not the case at all". JR:  The issue of women playing professionally is a relatively new concept where New Zealand is concerned. Among a handful of other players, we’ve had Ali Riley playing in Women’s Professional Soccer, but her club, the title-winning FC Gold Pride, have just folded, along with two other clubs in the same competition this year. What plans/ideas are afoot to ensure the women’s game’s elite players have the assurance of a stable environment financially in which to play the game they love, and enjoy fiscal reward for their efforts and abilities? TH:  "This is not really within FIFA’s duties or responsibilities. It’s up to every national association to put up a league, then it’s up to the market to decide how much money everybody has to spend. I’m convinced that professional leagues will come. I know in the USA the WPS was an artificial construct which is struggling. It will be good for everybody if it continues, but there’s so much money involved - it’s a challenge. "Other leagues developed a lot slower, but with more safety. Germany, Sweden, Norway, England - they’re starting a new league, Holland - although they don’t have too many foreign players, they do have a professional league … it starts all over the world. I’m sure in a few years we’ll have more professional leagues and players". JR:  You touched on the English Women’s Super League. We’ll have a New Zealand presence in that with our captain, Hayley Moorwood, and hopefully a couple of other Football Ferns involved as well. How important is that competition for women’s football’s development? TH:  "It’s very important. The fact that if you’re a professional player, you’re training every day, you have a professional environment, you have the proper medical treatment, you have the right intensity of games and rest days. It only makes women’s football better. "We need professional leagues, but they have to be sustainable. The economy, the market place, has to be there, and that is something you can’t just put in place from one day to the next. It has to grow. "A few years ago in the USA, we had a professional league - WUSA - which went broke. Germany is between professional and semi-professional - it’s a question of time. You need to give the leagues and the markets time to develop". JR:  Another aspect re the financial side of things is that the women’s game now enjoys prize money at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals, with the 2011 event to feature an increase in same. What importance do you place on this aspect in growing the women’s game, and on its investment in the women’s game by the participating countries? TH:  "I think the prize money is a well deserved payback to the teams for their efforts because it’s really expensive to prepare for a FIFA Women’s World Cup. It’s nice to have, and for some federations it’s more important than for others. But it doesn’t pay all your costs. "The FIFA Women’s World Cup doesn’t make money in terms of benefits, in terms of the finances. It’s subsidised by the men’s World Cup on FIFA’s side. But looking at FIFA’s financial status, being a rich federation, I think it’s the right thing to pay back the teams and give them some prize money". JR:  Moving away from the fiscal side of the game

now, and turning to on-field matters, particularly regarding the various FIFA women’s competitions which you‘re charged with overseeing, such as 2011. You must be delighted with progress to date, and, above all, public anticipation. What are some of the outcomes you hope to see from Germany 2011? TH:  "That Germany will be a perfect host and organiser. The stadiums are modern, big and of a very high quality. The training facilities, the hotels, the local transport - everything around the organisation will be fantastic. "The Germans are renowned as perfectionists and good organisers, and the way they prepare this event, the way they work, the number of staff they have, the resources - it’s very, very professional. We know we’re on the safe side with the event. "The other aspect is the message going out to the world - that we have that number of spectators in stadiums, that we have stadiums sold out, that so many tickets have actually been sold at this early stage, roughly six months out - not just given away to school classes and kids. This message has to go around the world, and will have an impact on associations who are still struggling in terms of their women’s football". JR:  Within the last five years, New Zealand has made significant in-roads in women’s football. What are your impressions of New Zealand’s progress? TH:  "From what I know, the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2008 was a huge success for women’s football in New Zealand. It was shown live on television, we had decent media coverage in all the different areas - newspapers, radio, TV, web. "I believe this was one of the factors to convince people in New Zealand that women’s football and girl’s football is something they can be proud of. They want their daughters to play. This was a bit of a change in the mentality, perhaps. "In terms of the sporting level, I can only speak for the results I see, and New Zealand did very well at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2007 and the Olympics a year later. Whereas in the past, they were clearly out in the group phases, in those two events they showed they are closing the gap towards the top nations, and their development has gone on since then. "They didn’t go to the next round in 2008, but they were close, so maybe next year they will". JR:  There’s no doubt whatsoever in my mind on that score - quarter-finals, here we come! As you said, though, part of that progress has been NZ08, and the legacy it has left. What are your abiding memories of the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals? TH:  "There are many. It was my first visit to New Zealand. It was just a fantastic time. The people are very friendly. We had a successful event for women’s football. The quality of the games, the number of spectators. It was the first FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, so nobody really knew how those teams would perform. "Overall it was an excellent level of football. The organisation was perfect - similar to Germany, I would say. It was a very professional organisation. We had no problems in any areas. The teams really liked it. In all areas it was very positive. The only downside is that since then I haven’t been able to come here for some holidays!" JR:  How did Trinidad & Tobago 2010 fare by comparison with  NZ08 in your eyes? TH:  "I think Trinidad & Tobago got even better. New Zealand was the first U-17s, so there were some things which really surprised us at that event. "We saw excellent football, technical skills and strong teams, and we saw some differences in the teams, in terms of the way they prepared, the stage they were at when they arrived here. Not all federations were able to put their teams into a really good pre-Finals programme, so they just came here and played so-so. "Trinidad & Tobago was similar but better. The balance between the teams was closer. We had three teams from Asia in the final four - this was fantastic

for Asia. We had Spain, a newcomer, which finished third. From the playing systems, they played a little like the men - really nice football. "The highlight from Trinidad & Tobago was we had some newcomers in the last four teams, which shows the development taking place in some areas in the world". JR:  Azerbaijan 2012 - how are things progressing for those FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals? TH:  "That’s a very interesting question which I’m happy to answer. It’s fantastic to see a country like Azerbaijan bidding for a FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and the support the country and the federation is putting into the event is a huge challenge for them. "Women’s football is almost non-existent there. They don’t really have a strong team in any of the age categories in UEFA. They’re one of the weaker teams, if they have a team at all. "The reason that federation took the decision to host an U-17 Women’s World Cup was really to have a tool to drive the development of the game. Once they were confirmed as hosts, they immediately put their programme in place. "They hired a German former female international player, Silvia Rite, as full-time coach. They toured the country and selected all the girls with some talent. They do some camps. They’ve put the team together, they train, they have a promotional programme … compared to some other countries, they really have an excellent programme in place right now. "It will be a challenge for them. This is completely new. I think they will have a hard time competing in the competition. But the long-term effects for women’s football in Azerbaijan … this tournament is a complete boost for them to start developing the game, and afterwards I think it will be an established sport. "So a lot of credit is due to the people in charge who took this decision, because it will be tough, but for women’s football and for the girls and the country it will be excellent. "For men’s football there it’s even harder. The media pressure is higher, the competition is tougher. From the women’s football side, it’s a little out of the big picture, so they can start developing the game and can rebuild some stadiums, work on their infrastructure. The pressure of the world is not looking so much on them. "Once they organise a Youth (U-20) World Cup in men’s football then everybody will be looking at them, so it’s like a test - a pre-work for some other objectives they have. For women’s football it’s good, and that’s what counts". JR:  The 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Finals, venue to be advised. I note Vietnam were looking likely at one stage, but that fell through. How close are to confirming the venue for 2012 given the timeframe available to you? TH:  "We don’t really know yet. We are in a bit of a difficult position, because we weren’t expecting Vietnam to drop out. We were hoping and were pretty sure of hosting the event there, so their decision to withdraw came as a bit of a surprise, but not completely so.   "They were never able to fulfil all the legal documents and other such matters. There is always a process. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it takes longer, so we thought it was just a question of time. But they withdrew, which came at a bit of a bad time, as it has put us in a position where we’ve now got a short timeframe in which to find a new host. "This is not really what we want, and not ideal - not for us, not for the next host country, not for the confederations to organise their qualifying competitions. It’s similar to the SARS epidemic we experienced in China, where the USA stepped in to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2003. "This one is maybe nobody’s fault. They had good intentions, but I think it’s a complex country, with different groups agreeing to it. In the end it was apparently too challenging. "So we’re looking for a host. We asked New Zealand if they would be able to host, and we’re in discussions right now. The sooner we know, the better it is for everybody. The next FIFA Executive Committee meeting takes place in March, so by then we have to know officially. That will be the formal confirmation, but we’ll know before then". So there you have it - the possibility of another FIFA Finals tournament taking place in New Zealand, although it must be emphasised, this country is one of a handful FIFA has approached to host next year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Finals at short notice. The Organising Committee for the FIFA U-20 and U-17 Women’s World Cups meets in Zurich on 1 February to discuss matters relating to the respective 2012 tournaments, while the Organising Committee for Women’s Football and the FIFA Women’s World Cup meets on 1 March - their agenda embraces all things women’s football-wise. Decisions made at those meetings will be ratified on March 2-3, during the two-day FIFA Executive Committee meeting in Zurich. Fingers crossed we’ll have some good news to look forward to in around six weeks!