Brazil has become the latest nation to withdraw their bid to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup, sighting monetary reasons for its decision.
With the coronavirus pandemic still ongoing, the Brazilian Football Confederation, also known as the CBF, said it was not suitable to offer financial guarantees given the circumstances.
Brazil has hosted a number of high profile major international tournaments in recent years, including the 2019 Copa America, 2014 Football World Cup and the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
However, the country has suffered considerably from the impact of COVID-19 with over 35,000 deaths, so did not feel comfortable hosting another big sporting event.
A statement by the CBF stated that "Because of the fiscal and economic austerity brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, (the government) thought it would not be recommended to right now sign the guarantees asked for by Fifa."
This means that there are now just three bids remaining for the 2023 competition, with South Africa, South Korea and Argentina joining Brazil in removing their interest.
Brazil will now turn their support towards Colombia’s bid, which proposes the tournament be played across 10 venues in 10 different cities, with the final to be played in Bogota, at the Estadio El Campin.
One of the requirements for putting forward a World Cup bid is for the host nation to have its own national women’s league, something that Colombia only recently introduced in 2017.
Colombia are also up against bids from Japan and Australia/New Zealand. The official announcement will be made on 25th June 2020.