FIFA Head of Women's Football, Tatjana Haenni, revealed that a lot has been learnt from hosting the U20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea.
Haenni told local female sports journalists at a recent workshop hosted by the Women in News and Sport (WINS) program, in Port Moresby, that they have learnt a lot about the people and culture.
WINS hosted the workshop in conjunction with the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and participants were treated to a diverse range of FIFA speakers.
Haenni admitted that hosting the tournament in PNG was a little bit of a challenge at the start but they’ve all learnt a lot about the country in the past weeks.
Her team is in charge of the organisation of the FIFA women’s world cup tournaments including the U17, U20 and the senior women.
Haenni stressed that before coming to PNG, she had no idea about what PNG was like and she feels privileged to have learnt a lot.
“The experience has opened our eyes and it was extremely pleasant to learn how to work with the people, which were difficult for us in the beginning.
“But we learnt to adapt to the island style, everything a little last minute.
“We got nervous in regards to the stadium facilities so our focus was a lot on the infrastructure and having them ready for the tournament, and I think the country did extremely well,” she said.
Haenni added that hosting the tournament has made the people proud, given them confidence and proven that PNG can deliver something on time and showcase to the world.
She said the world now knows about PNG, its people and its culture, which is a good thing.
She encouraged the journalists to believe in themselves, achieve gender equality and use the media to empower women in football and sports to contribute to the country’s development.