FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup cancelled, India allotted 2022 edition

The U-17 Women's World Cup in India, which was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was cancelled on Tuesday by FIFA. FIFA has also cancelled the U-20 Women's World Cup that was scheduled to take place in Costa Rica but has transferred the rights to the 2022 edition to both countries. This means that India will host the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and Costa Rica will host the 2022 U-20 Women's World Cup.

This decision was made by the FIFA Council Bureau, taking into account the current global COVID-19 pandemic and its continued impact on football.

According to a press release, FIFA said on Tuesday, "As a result and after careful consideration of the feedback received by the stakeholders combined with the inability to postpone these tournaments further, the FIFA-Confederations COVID-19 Working Group subsequently recommended that the 2020 editions of the two women’s youth tournaments be cancelled and that the hosting rights for the 2022 editions be offered to the countries that were due to host the 2020 editions."

"In light of this, and following further consultation between FIFA and the respective host member associations regarding the 2022 editions of the tournaments, the Bureau of the Council has approved Costa Rica as host of the U-20 Women’s World Cup 2022 and India as host of the U-17 Women's World Cup 2022 respectively," FIFA added.

The tournament, originally scheduled to take place from November 2nd to 21st at five venues in India, was delayed to February 17th to March 7th next year due to the coronavirus pandemic and now postponed till 2022, which has wreaked havoc on the sports calendars from around the world.

The decision deals a blow to the Indian team that was being prepared as they will not meet the age requirements for the 2022 edition.

The All India Football Federation said it is regrettable that the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup will not be held next year, but said that the development of women's football in the country will continue with the tournament that is now scheduled to be held in India in 2022.