UEFA’s World Cup boycott all set to collapse as England, France and more prepare to do battle in FIFA’s Women’s Under-20 tournament
Amid a lack of comments from the powers that be on the possibility of the tournament going ahead, or not, in the last few weeks, it is quotes from the managers involved which have been the best way to take the temperature. Speaking to BBC Sport earlier this month, during the Young Lionesses’ preparation camp in Portugal, England U20 head coach Lydia Bedford said of any potential boycott: “From my perspective the message from leadership all along has been, ‘Just continue as usual’, so we have.”
Elsewhere, speaking to reporters just last week, Vicky Jepson, head coach of the United States’ U20s, was asked if there was a suggestion of the tournament not happening.
“No, absolutely not,” she replied. “And I work at a great federation that would be pulling me in a meeting to inform me of that. It’s business as usual and we’re all prepared. I know there’s a lot of noise around it, but that noise hasn’t slipped into our camp, and it’s certainly something that I’ve not been concerned about because the federation has never once said to me that there’s a concern about this tournament going ahead.”
What it means for FIFA, Infantino and UEFA’s stance if the U20 Women’s World Cup goes ahead, only time will tell. As it stands, though, it looks like it will, as some of the best young talents in the women’s game look to emulate previous stars of this tournament, such as Patri Guijarro, Marta, Asisat Oshoala, Christine Sinclair and Alyssa Naeher, amid a tumultuous political background.
