Fifa’s chief football officer and former USWNT coach Jill Ellis has criticised anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the United States and spoken of not wanting to “throw stones in glass houses” when discussing the prospect of Qatar hosting the 2028 Women’s Club World Cup.
The Guardian revealed earlier this month that the world’s governing body is in discussions about Qatar potentially staging the new tournament, which will be held from 5 to 30 January 2028. While Ellis said she had not heard of any such talks personally, she appeared to be open to the tournament being played in the Middle East.
Such a move could be controversial, not least given Qatar’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights and the extensive number of openly LGBTQ+ players and coaches working in the women’s game. When asked whether Fifa would have to consider women’s football’s prominent LGBTQ+ identity when choosing host locations, Ellis said, in comments reported by the Times and the Telegraph on Tuesday: “Certainly. I’m going to put my personal hat on.
“There are over 500 bills in the US with anti-gay legislation on them. That was last year when I started researching. I say that because I also think more broadly, we all have to look at how we can continue to create different perceptions.
“I think sport is a powerful conduit to do that. That’s just me putting my [personal] thing on. I will assure you that, but I also come from the US. Right now, there’s a big light being shone on that. I’m very, very careful not to throw stones in glass houses. We certainly will look at all of the bidding that comes in.
“Sport has an incredible ability to transform, educate, and enlighten. I think the more people that can have access to this incredible game and see women play it, it’s for the betterment of everybody. That’s my personal opinion.”
Ellis, who was born in England and is an American citizen, won the World Cup twice as the US women’s national team head coach, in 2015 and 2019.
Asked about Qatar – which hosted the men’s World Cup in 2022 but has little history with the women’s game – as a possible women’s football host, Ellis responded: “I’ve not heard anything about that region at my level. There’s a bidding process the council has to vote on it. We will decompress, get this thing off the ground very quickly. The 2027 tournament hasn’t been decided, let alone 2028. We want to get as many people interested in this to want to host it. I think that would be pretty cool.
“We’ve got to look at where we can visibly grow the game and have the most impact.”
A smaller-format competition, the new women’s Champions Cup, organised by Fifa, gets under way on 28 January in London, as a precursor to the larger 2028 Club World Cup. The Concacaf champions Gotham FC, last year’s Libertadores Femenina winners, Corinthians, the European champions Arsenal and the African Champions League winners ASFAR are all taking part in the semi-finals. The final will be staged at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium on 1 February.
