The 2023 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup taking place in Australia is off to a not-so-great start, with the US National Team making waves with its embarrassing National Anthem performance as the event as a whole struggles to sell tickets.<\/p>\n
In fact, the event is struggling so badly with ticket sales that it has resorted to begging New Zealanders to \u201cdo the right thing\u201d and buy tickets to watch matches few have any interest in watching, which makes sense given the remote location of the match in New Zealand, halfway around the world for fans in the US, Africa, and Europe, and the generally subdued interest in women\u2019s soccer compared to men\u2019s soccer.<\/p>\n
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, however, pleaded with New Zealanders to buy more tickets to the match up, seemingly attempting to shame them into doing so. \u201cNew Zealand, we want you. We need you<\/em>,\u201d he\u00a0begged<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s never too late to do the right thing. Come to watch the matches. We need full stadiums to warm us all up<\/em>,\u201d he\u00a0added<\/a>.<\/p>\n Continuing, Infantino argued that women\u2019s soccer is just as good as men\u2019s soccer, implying that because of that people should be just as interested in watching it. In his\u00a0words<\/a>: \u201cMany people who still believe that women\u2019s football is not, you know, great, a great game or it\u2019s not so entertaining or it\u2019s a kind of a bad copy of men\u2019s football, or some stuff like that. Well, when they watch a game for the first time, they will actually see that it\u2019s a fantastic game. It\u2019s very entertaining. It\u2019s great athletes playing, the level has grown incredibly in the last 10 years, and the best are coming here.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Joining President Infantino was\u00a0FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura. Echoing Infantino\u2019s plea to New Zealanders, she\u00a0begged<\/a>, \u201cWe still have tickets available for some matches, so my only plea is don\u2019t wait until the last moment.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Continuing, she tried to put a positive spin on the dismal situation,\u00a0adding<\/a>, \u201cYou still can apply and get your ticket for the majority of the matches, and we hope that this will be also the most attended women\u2019s sporting event \u2013 it is already, but that we will be reaching record figures.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the press conference here:<\/p>\n