World Soccer - UK (2019-11)

the exception being Canberra United.

Long-term the hope is every A-

League club will have a women’s team,

potentially including Wellington Phoenix,

which would provide a professional outlet

for New Zealand players. First, however,

the aim is to expand the fixture list into

a true home-and-away schedule. At

present there are only 14 matches which

means an imbalance. However, Australia’s

large distances and the need for many

players to work – the average player

contract is A$17,400 – makes midweek

fixtures problematic while a longer

season could clash with NWSL.

Kerr seems more likely to head for

Europe than return to Perth Glory, which

will rob the league of its biggest star.

Her absence would probably rule the

West Australian club out of contention,

leaving the title likely to be between

defending champions Sydney, the

team they deposed Melbourne City

(an offshoot of England’s Manchester

City) and regular-season winners

Melbourne Victory.

SUDAN LAUNCH LEAGUE

The first women’s league in Sudan has

begun, just six months after the ending

of 36 years of Sharia law during which

the sport was sidelined.

Tahadi and Difaain launched the

21-team league in Khartoum watched

by minister of sport Wala Essam, who

said: “This is a historical game not only

for women’s sport but for Sudan. We

will give special attention to women’s

sport and women’s football”

Spectators chanted “Civilian rule”

and “Kandaka”, a reference to the

ancient Nubian queens.

Islamist dictator Omar Al Bashir was

toppled in an April coup after 30 years

in power and a joint military-civilian

body is now governing the nation.

COURAGE TAKE THREE IN A ROW

North Carolina Courage clinched the

NWSL shield for the third successive

year finishing the 24-game regular

season five points clear of Chicago Red

Stars. Portland Thorns and Reign FC

also made the championship play-offs.

Thorns’ average attendance topped

20,000 for the season, comfortably

the highest in the women’s game

globally, while Chicago’s Sam Kerr

was top scorer with 18 goals.

CATCH-22 FOR LUGANO

Swiss club Lugano faced a Catch-22

problem when immigration officials

ruled that many of their American

players, who combine playing with

studying, require work permits in

order to play. However, as the Swiss

federation regard the sport as amateur,

no work permits can be issued. Forced

to field many academy players, Lugano

lost their opening league match 8-0.

Most Americans went home but some

remained to play in the reserves and

the second string won 9-0.

ELLIS BOWS OUT

After two World Cup triumphs, Jill Ellis

concluded her reign as USA coach with

a 1-1 draw against South Korea. She

said: “It’s a sense of feeling like it’s a

story written and it’s a chapter closed

and it’s on to other things. But it’s been

an unbelievable journey.”

DISRUPTION IN ECUADOR

The Copa Libertadores Femenina was

disrupted by civil unrest in Ecuador,

where the tournament was staged.

The Final was due to take place on

October 28 but street protests against

austerity measures forced rescheduling

of the group games.

America de Cali went into the

tournament fresh from winning

the Colombian league by beating

Independiente Medellin 3-2 on

aggregate in the Final.

No return...Sam Kerr
(right) looks set to
leave Perth Glory

Leaving...Jill Ellis

Protests...street

demonstrations

in Ecuador

Champions...

Heather

O’Reilly (right)

and McCall

Zerboni

of North

Carolina

Courage

Historic...Tahadi (in

green) take on Difaain