TT women f/ballers 40th in the world

TRINIDAD and Tobago women footballers have been ranked 40th of 113 countries in  the world  by FIFA.

This ranking also makes Trinidad and Tobago the top women’s team in the entire Caribbean, ahead of Haiti rated 55th and arch-rivals Jamaica, who are 73rd. And according to the FIFA rankings, the Trinidad and Tobago girls are the fourth best among their CONCACAF peers behind No 1 United States, Canada the 12th ranked team in the world and Mexico, ranked 31st. FIFA president Joseph Sepp Blatter has described women football as “an inspiration to us all.”

In a recent statement, Blatter said when the first FIFA Women’s World Cup was held in China in 1991, many saw it as a niche event. But he pointed out, the women’s game has made enormous progress in recent years in every respect. Blatter said while only 45 teams were in the qualifiers for the 1991 tournament, 99 were in the fray for the 16 places in this fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup which opens today in Philadelphia, United States, and close on October 12. And he indicated that FIFA have played their part in the development of women football by setting up a department dedicated to the task and organising many symposiums.

Blatter said delegates from 120 national associations have enrolled for the two-day Women’s Football Sym-posium in Long Beach, California, next month. He said women football has seen a huge increase in spectator interest, with approximately 75,000 fans at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City for a play-off match between Mexico and Japan for the last place in this year’s World Cup. And Blatter pointed out, there was 90,000 fans to see the 1999 final between United States and China at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California.