A useful new seven-one-side Global Women Football Series has been announced with the first event set to take place in Portugal from 21-23 May. The new competition has been named ‘World Sevens football’ and understands that there is a promise to invest $ 100m (£ 77m) in the series for a five -year period.
The new invitational series “Grand Slam” contests, first reported by The Guardian, will feature a $ 5M money prize per event. It is funded by the US-based philanthropist Jennifer Mackesy, co-owner of the NWSL Club Gotham FC, and will be broadcast live by streaming Dazn’s streaming platform.
The teams involved in the first eight-colonial competition have not been confirmed, but a different set of clubs will compete in the second event in the November-December, which will be held on another continent. The winning team at each event will receive $ 2.5m.
The organizers said the players would be “at the heart” of the series and they were guided by a player council, led by former Uswnt Winger Tobin Heath and also with former Sweden captain Caroline Seger, former Defender of England and Team GB secretary of the French Football Federation.
‘World Sevens football’ named former US Women International and Bay FC co-founder Aly Wagner as head of strategy, and she told The Guardian: “This is one of the most important moments in women’s football, and an opportunity for us to do something unique and different. It’s a global series to travel to the world and one of the keys to the opening of the world and the keys to the opening of the world’s openings are opening the marketplace and the world is opening the opening of the world and the keys to the opening of the world are open and the world is opening up the opening of the world and the keys to the opening of the world are opening the market and the keys to the opening of the world are opening the marketplace and the world’s keys are opening the market and the keys to the opening of the world are opening the marketplace and the world’s keys are opening the opening market of women’s football in those areas.
“The seven-v-seven format is one of the players’ love. It’s one of their favorite things to do in practice, the small games and this is what I think fans will end up with.
“It will be an event worldwide for these players, they will be treated in the way we have always dreamed of being treated as players, from the moment they leave the plane.”
The inaugural tournament will be held from 21-23 May in Estoril, Portugal, in a grass pitch at Estádio António Coimbra da Mota, which understands a ‘stadium inside a stadium’ will be built around half a pitch size for seven-one-side games. That was directly on the run-up to the final of the Women’s Champions League this year, which was featured near Lisbon, so the two finalists were not involved in the first event.
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The places for future events have not been announced but the organizers say they are planning to go to cities “throughout the United States, Mexico, Asia, Europe, and beyond”. The group is talking to FIFA and UEFA but does not expect any body-governing consent to run the series, as the seven-one-side is not a coded game form.
