Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north, and Israel and Palestine to the west. Jordan has a strategic location at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe. From 30th September to 21st October 2016, 16 teams will converge on this country to decide who will be the best women's U-17 football playing team in the world for the next two years.
Jordan is now looking
forward to the draw for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2016, which will
take place in the capital Amman on 30 May. In the run-up to the eagerly
awaited event, which will determine the make-up of the group stage at
the next U-17 Women’s World Cup, the Local Organising
Committee (LOC) and FIFA held a press conference to discuss the details
of the draw, while the tournament's official mascot was also revealed.
In
front of a large media presence, Tatjana Haenni, Deputy Director
of FIFA’s Competitions Division and Head of Women’s Competitions, and
Samar Nassar, the Executive Director of the LOC talked about a range
of aspects of this significant event.
Samar Nassar (born 1978) is a swimmer from Jordan. She was born in Lebanon, and competed for Palestine at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and for Jordan at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
She served as Chef de mission of the Jordanian delegation at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
LOC Executive Director Nassar began the press conference by welcoming
the representatives of FIFA and the many members of the media present,
before adding that “the draw is a major event which everyone’s eyes will
be on. Many officials will attend and it will be sponsored by Prince
Ali bin Hussein, the President of the Jordan Football Association," she
continued. "There will also be a number of guests there. In the coming
days the teams taking part in the World Cup and all the parties involved
in the event will be holding a number of workshops. There will also be
tours of all the stadiums and hotels. We’re really happy and
enthusiastic about hosting the draw procedure.”
For her
part, Haenni revealed details of the draw procedure and the distribution
of the teams taking part in the tournament: “The 16 teams have been
divided into four pots according to their rankings in the four previous
editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. The points scored by each
team in each previous edition, from the most recent to the oldest, are
taken into account. Five extra points have also been given to every team
which has won their continental championship on the way to qualifying
for this World Cup."
“The teams will be divided into four pots,"
she continued. "The first pot contains the teams which will be at the
head of each group. These are the host country, Jordan, and the three
best-ranked teams – current world champions Japan, as well
as Germany and Korea DPR. In the second pot are Nigeria, Spain,
Venezuela and Ghana. The third pot includes Canada, USA, Mexico and
Brazil, and in the fourth are New Zealand, England, Paraguay, and
Cameroon."
“As usual the draw will be carried out in order, from
the first to the fourth pot and the teams will be distributed among
Groups A, B, C and D, and each team will be given a number in its group
from 1 to 4.”
Before the draw, it is important to remember
that, according to FIFA rules, no group can include more than one team
from the same football confederation.
Nassar also announced the names of those who will be on stage
on Monday to help with the draw procedure, with the LOC choosing four of
Jordan’s most well-known sportswomen. These include Paralympic
star Maha Barghouthi, who has won over 50 gold medals over the course of
her career. Taekwondo star Dana Haider Touran will also be there, she has won silver medals at the Youth Olympic Games and the
Taekwondo World Championships and is now getting ready for the 2016
Olympics in Rio.
Jordanian women’s football will be represented
by Stephanie Al-Naber, captain of the women’s football team and the
first professional Jordanian woman footballer to play in Europe, as well
as her team-mate Yasmeen Khair, who was previously a gymnastics star
before embarking on a football career. Khair has also been selected as a
local ambassador for the U-17 Women’s World Cup.
During the press conference, there was a happy surprise for
everyone, when Aseela
the tournament mascot was announced. She will be
one of the U-17 Women World Cup’s most important ambassadors. Aseela is
an Arabian oryx, one of the rare and beautiful animals that live in
Jordan.
Nassar revealed the reason why this particular animal
was chosen as the official mascot of the U-17 Women's World Cup: “It
wasn’t difficult to choose the Arabian oryx. It’s strong, gentle and
athletic and thus has the same qualities of Jordanian women
footballers. Aseela will have a major role in attracting support from
the local community for this historic tournament. In Aseela we have a
mascot who will not only appeal to the national identity of Jordanian
football fans but who also celebrates the strength of the female soul.” It is hoped that Aseela will inject vitality to the women’s
football scene in Jordan by inspiring young women across Jordan and the
region to take part in and watch the beautiful game.
Nassar emphasised that the LOC will spare no effort in attracting fans
to the tournament from all sectors of society. Marketing campaigns will
be carried out, aimed at informing the public of the importance of this
event and encouraging them to attend the matches at the
stadiums. Nassar said that campaigns in schools and universities will
have top priority, while it is particularly important that young women
attend these matches and take more interest in football, a game which is
becoming more and more popular in Jordan.
Haenni said that
hosting the tournament in Jordan will not only bring benefits in the
three weeks when the matches will take place, but also in the years to
come. It will have an effect on all sectors of football in Jordan,
providing a large number of training pitches and improving the
infrastructure of the large stadiums where the matches will be held.
Hosting this international tournament will give a great boost to women’s
football in Jordan and in the rest of the Middle East, allowing it
to advance and reach globally competitive levels.
Akinfegbe Habeeb
morakinmoyo1@gmail.com
08060532466
