15 May 2024 – A South African Football Association (SAFA) delegation led by President Dr Danny Jordaan is in Bangkok, Thailand, to attend the 74th FIFA Congress.
Dr Jordaan said work began immediately after touchdown and they have continued where they left off in South Africa. Several important decisions are expected to be made during the Congress, including the announcement of the host of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027. There are only two bids remaining in the race to host the global tournament, a bid from Brazil and a joint bid from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The Brazil bid appears to be favourite to win after they were ranked higher than their rivals in an evaluation report issued by FIFA a few days ago. “It will now be up to the members to make the final decision,” said Dr Jordaan.
It will be the first time that the winning host bid is decided in an open vote by the FIFA members. The SAFA President attended the COSAFA Congress in Johannesburg a few days with CEO Lydia Monyapao and then switched to Thailand.
The SAFA delegation also remembered that 15 May marked exactly 20 years since South Africa won the right to host the FIFA World Cup. FIFA announced the winning South African bid at a media conference on 15 May 2004 in Zürich and the country hosted the tournament in the highly successful event in 2010.
