From the 20th of January to the 6th of February, the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 will be held. This year’s competition will feature a total of 12 teams, up from eight last year. Aside from India, two other countries – Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei – have made proposals to host the tournament. The Asian Football Confederation, however, officially granted India hosting rights in June 2020.
The competition will take place in three stadiums across Mumbai and Pune. On that topic, these are the venues for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup:
Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex: Pune
This stadium, also known as the Balewadi Stadium, has a seating capacity of 11,900. However, because the competition will be held behind closed doors, capacity isn’t an issue. Air India, Mumbai FC, Pune FC, DSK Shivajians, and Bharat FC have all played their home matches at this stadium in the past.
FC Pune City, a former Indian Super League team, used to call this their home. This venue previously hosted the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2008. In 2019, it was also utilized for the Khelo India Youth Games. The bad news is that India will not be playing any of their Group A matches at this venue. Rather, this complex is home to the majority of the Group C fixtures.
Mumbai Football Arena: Mumbai
Bengaluru FC of the Indian Super League uses the Mumbai Football Arena as their home venue. The Blues won their first ISL title here in 2019, thanks to Rahul Bheke’s late solo strike in the 117th minute, which helped them upset FC Goa. The Mumbai Football Arena, which has a capacity of 18,000, is the home venue of Mumbai City FC in the ISL.
The Intercontinental Cup, which India won in 2018, was also hosted at this site in 2018. On the 26th of January, the Blue Tigresses will face China PR in the Mumbai Football Arena in their last Group A match.
DY Patil Stadium: Mumbai
The DY Patil Stadium, one of the best in the country, has a reputation for hosting a few FIFA U-17 World Cup matches in 2017. The stadium also functions as a cricket venue, with a seating capacity of 55,000. It was previously used by the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
The first-ever Indian Super League final was held here in 2014, with Atletico de Kolkata claiming the title with a 1-0 victory over Kerala Blasters FC, thanks to a goal from Mohammed Rafique. Apart from that, Mumbai City’s home field in the first two editions of the ISL was the DY Patil Stadium. In this stadium, India will play two matches: one against Iran (20th) and the other against Chinese Taipei (23rd).
Read: India’s strong potential is shown by the AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers
