2015 World Cup heads Down Under

The Federation of International Touch is pleased to announce that the 2015 (FIT) World Cup will be held in Australia.

The FIT Board had shortlisted Australia and Singapore from five contenders — Italy, Papua New Guinea and Samoa - and after a formal EOI process and exhausting analysis of bids, last week formally appointed the event to Touch Football Australia.

While other sports may have complications through such processes, Touch Football Australia has been able to work collaboratively with the international body to secure this event, and will also be meeting with Singapore tomorrow to assist with future developments.

While the World Cup is over four years away, the work will begin immediately, with a location yet to be determined. The next World Cup will be held in June 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over 100 teams expected to compete, which exceeded FIT's predictions of teams for the 2015 World Cup. With even more teams expected in 2015 as the sport continues to grow around the world, the economic impact that will come with hosting such an event will be a great incentive for the location that will host the 2015 World Cup.

Secretary-General of the Federation of International Touch, Dennis Coffey, says that the 2015 World Cup is time for the event to come back to Australia, where the first ever World Cup was held.

"The past three World Cups have been in Japan, South Africa and next year in Scotland, and some people would say it is overdue but it's certainly due to come back to the home of the sport to really showcase what can be done with the sport," Coffey said.

Touch Football Australia's Chief Executive Officer, Colm Maguire, is pleased to see the event return to Australia, with the last time that the event was held in Australia being in Sydney in 1999.

"This provides us with a significant opportunity in conjunction with our new strategic plan to conclude the next five years with an outstanding goal of delivering this event at home."

"It is a fantastic opportunity for our sport and nation," Maguire said.

Australia has an impressive World Cup record, winning every World Cup since the inception of the event in 1988. The Australian Women's Open team have one of the best records across any sport, having never lost a game at the World Cup in its 22 year history.