Message from Fiji FA women’s vice president Susan Wise and Fiji FA executive board member Mrs Nazia Ali Krishna
Greetings to all
The stage is all set for the five days of entertaining football as our women in football will lace up their boots to feature in the 2020 Vodafone Women’s Inter District Championship. It is our privilege and honor to welcome you all to the ANZ Stadium in Suva.
Women’s football has been struggling over the years since its inception in 1991 but now we can say that we are in line with the regional and international standards. All this was made possible through the support of Fiji FA president Rajesh Patel and his Board and the generous sponsorship of Vodafone Fiji Limited.
Although women’s football has grown exponentially at all levels in recent times, the passion for and potential of the sport offers vast untapped opportunities. Fiji Football is working with all stakeholders to take concrete steps to empower girls and women, make football a sport for all and advocate against gender discrimination. Vodafone Women’s IDC, Vodafone U16 Girls League, Vodafone U19 Girls Youth and senior women’s league have proven that we have taken the first steps in the right direction.
We are proud to say that now we have 16 districts participating in the senior women’s league and also in the age group competition.
Fiji FA is very much committed in the development of women’s football in the country and we are proud that we are ranked 65thin the FIFA World Cup ranking and third in Oceania region.
We are expecting an exciting atmosphere when the Vodafone Women’s Inter District Championship kicks off in Suva on Wednesday.
The eight teams have qualified to come into the competition on merit. This is based on their performance in the Vodafone Women’s National League. Of the seven teams in the South which participated in the league in 2019, four are part of this IDC, in the West there are five teams of which three have qualified with Labasa being the only team from North.
Over the years, the Ba women’s side have won the IDC title seven times, the Suva women’s side five times while Labasa has managed to take the trophy home once.
The winner of the 2020 Vodafone women’s IDC will win $4000 while the runner-up gets $1500. We also provide districts with accommodation, travel grants, meals and many more.
We challenge the fans both men and women to come in numbers to support your districts and enjoy the scintillating football that will be on display. We would also like to provide a strong and timely warning against complacency and a reminder of the need to maintain vigilance in following all the required social distancing measures, particularly while attending the tournament.
We look forward to everyone’s active support and input to foster new possibilities of the 2020 Vodafone Women’s Inter-District Championship. Women’s football around the world is gaining momentum and even if we are not at the level of leading countries at the moment, we are on the right track to get there. This IDC will be a catalyst for women’s football in Fiji. Lets fill the stadium and help energise the movement to increase women’s football participation at all levels.
May the best team win!
