FANS of the Filipinas, the national women’s football team, can benefit from the announcement of the International Football Federation, known by its French acronym FIFA, that it would offer 20,000 tickets for free to the Women’s World Cup matches in New Zealand, as reported by the Kiwi 1news website.
Among the companies involved in the distribution of the free tickets is Xero, an official women’s football partner, “which confirmed it will be offering 5,000 free tickets to a game at each of New Zealand’s four venues,” the report said.
“We just want Kiwis to be able to experience some of these amazing athletes at this event, which is going to be the most-attended women’s sporting event in history,” Xero general manager of brand and operations chief Valerie Walshe was quoted as saying.
It means Kiwi fans quick enough to grab a ticket will be able to attend the following games for free:
- Match 3: 21 July 5 p.m. — Dunedin: Philippines vs. Switzerland
- Match 5: 21 July 7:30 p.m. — Wellington: Spain vs. Costa Rica
- Match 6: 22 July 7 p.m. — Hamilton: Zambia vs. Japan
- Match 20: 26 July 7:30 p.m. — Auckland: Spain vs. Zambia
Walshe said those who want to get hold of the tickets “will be able to do so online from midday today with the code 23XERO. It is limited to a maximum of four each.
“Having access to these tickets means that more people will have the chance to be inspired by these athletes and we can hopefully grow the game locally within our football clubs all around the country,” Walsh said.
The development came in the wake of reports that ticket sales in New Zealand continue to drag behind Australia, with FIFA confirming it has reached the important milestone of 1.25 million tickets being sold, although just 320,000 of those were to games for the co-host.
FIFA Women’s World Cup chief executive Dave Beeche said they were “comfortable” with the progress in New Zealand, the report added.
“Naturally, there’s some games that are experiencing higher demand with the Kiwis and some of the top ranked teams but we’re happy with how the progress is, overall,” Beech said, adding the quality of football would “blow New Zealanders away.”
