2024 WOMEN’S CUP – WE SPEAK TO THE TOURNAMENT CEO AS SUNDOWNS LADIES GEAR UP FOR THE BIG TEST

Reigning Hollywoodbets Super League champions Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies will showcase their talents in Missouri, USA when they take part in the annual Women’s Cup later this month.

The South Africans have been placed alongside hosts Kansas City Current, Spain’s Atletico de Madrid as well as INAC Kobe Leonessa from Japan – with each playing two matches.

Sundowns Ladies, who were handpicked for this tournament, kick off their campaign against the home team on Thursday, 15 August 2024 at 03h00 South African time, while Kobe will tackle Atletico in the other match.

The winners will play the final on Sunday, 18 August at 3am SA time, and there will be a third-place play-off on Saturday, 17 August at midnight SA time.

The Women’s Cup is an invitational Tournament, giving teams from all 5 continents the opportunity to compete against each other. The 2024 edition sees two events taking place on US soil – in Louisville, Kentucky as well as in Kansas City, Missouri featuring eight teams in total. 

Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies are the first African club to be invited to the tournament.

“It’s also the first African team to ever play in the United States so it’s a huge moment. We wanted to have an African team in the Women’s Cup, but we wanted to have the best African team so obviously if you look at the track record of African women’s Champions League, Sundowns Ladies have a good record,” said John Paul Reynal, CEO of The Women’s Cup.

The competition is played annually between February and August.

Four tournaments have already been held since inception with two more to go this year. There are plans in place for South Africa to host the 2025 edition.

“We have not finalized the deal yet, but the intention is that The Women’s Cup comes to South Africa in 2025 because we really feel that the African continent is the next big place for woman’s football, I mean you already see it today with all these great African ladies playing in the NWSL and in Europe. I think it’s just going to continue to grow, and we feel it’s very important the Woman’s Cup is played in Africa,” added Reynal.

Over the years, 16 top clubs have graced the tournament, the likes of Bayern Munich (Germany), PSG (France), Tottenham Hotspur (England), AC Milan (Italy), River Plate (Argentina), Palmeiras (Brazil) and NJ/NY Gotham FC (USA) among others.

The Women’s Cup will make its debut at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City – the first stadium built exclusively for Women’s Professional Football.

The matches will be televised in over 150 countries by major broadcasters like DAZN in Europe, DirecTV in Latin America and SABC in Africa, with plans for additional coverage on all continents.

CentreCircle.online spoke to John Paul Reynal, CEO of The Women’s Cup.

What is The Women’s Cup?

We saw there was a need for international club competition that did not exist because although FIFA had organized the Men’s Club World Cup the Women’s Club World Cup did not exist, still does not exist I believe FIFA has announced to play their first one in 2026, but we have started in 2019 already. It’s been a long time we’ve been doing this sort of international club competitions, the only real opportunity that clubs from around the world get to play against each other. We thought it was very important when we have, for example, a team from Japan coming to the United States to play a team from Mexico or Chile or Brazil or Europe – it’s the first time those teams ever meet against each other. When FIFA gets started with their Women’s Club World Club in 2026 it will be played once every four years, according to their announcement, but The Women’s Cup will be played every year as some sort of a women’s global league.

How has the growth been since inception?

The Women’s Cup is today the largest international women’s club football tournament in the world, it is played many times throughout the year in different countries, and it features some of the best clubs on the planet. It’s an invitation only tournament and clubs are selected based on their performance and also based on how they are promoting the women’s game. We consider clubs to be our partners in the event so we hand select those clubs to participate. Remember the tournament started in 2019 but because of COVID was scheduled to play in 2020 and got postponed again the first year was 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA and that year we had Bayern Munich (Germany), and PSG (France) come to the United States and play against the two top teams from the NWSL – Racing Louisville and Chicago red stars and that’s where it all started.

Tell us about the selection of Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies?

It’s the first African team to come play in The Women’s Cup and it’s the first African team to ever play in the United States, so it’s a huge moment, it’s a huge event. We wanted to have an African team in The Women’s Cup but we wanted to have the best African team, so obviously if you look at the track record of African women’s Champions League, Sundowns Ladies or AS FAR from Morocco have been the dominant powers in the sport on the continent but the South Africans had a better record, so we focused on Mamelodi and we thought that it would be a great representative for the continent. We reached out, and started conversations with Roc Nations, a company in the United States which is owned by Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and they are the commercial representative of Mamelodi Sundowns. They were thrilled for the opportunity, and the club was also thrilled – so it was an instant sort of ‘let’s do this’.

What are the benefits of playing in the tournament?

First of all, they will get global visibility, they’re going to be seen and watched in every continent, they’re going to get the kind of exposure they’ve never received before. They are going to be playing against some of the best teams in the world – from Spain, the United States and Japan. I think you’re going to get a lot of experience on and off the field and they’re going to get a lot of exposure. Most importantly, I think it’s going to be a bit of a before and after with regards to the level South African Woman’s Football and I for one think they’re going to be the surprise of the tournament. I’ve watched a lot of their African Champions League games, and I think they have great quality of play, yes, they’re going to obviously have a very tough first match against Kansas City at home for Kansas City, but I think they’re going to shine. And I think it’s going to be very important for the growth of the game and by having SABC showing the games is how it also gives and validates in South Africa the importance of the women’s game.

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I take it scouting is big in tournaments like these…

Players that have never probably been scouted or seen before getting an opportunity to shine, get an opportunity to be seen and I can tell you that at least half a dozen trades happen every Women’s Cup where players that have never been scouted by NWSL teams or other big leagues or European leagues get appreciated from the first time. So, it’s also showcasing a platform for players around the world, there’s scouts from all over the world coming to the Women’s Cup, agents from all over the world coming to the Women’s Cup and obviously you have the teams themselves from Europe, they’re obviously looking for talent from around the world. We did a Women’s Cup in Colombia earlier this year and it was the first time ever that American teams had traveled to South America and the scouting opportunities they had while in Colombia were absolutely next level.

What can you say about player movements over the years, linked to the tournament?

Over the years, there there’s countless trades that have happened. I can tell you that at least six players from each tournament were traded. I am sure there will be many girls from the South African that will be offered to either play in Europe or the United States.

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And the SABC will be broadcasting Sundowns Ladies’ matches…

This is what the Women’s Cup allows – it allows for all these clubs to meet against each other and then with a global audience, because the matches are broadcast all over Europe and all over the United States this year on Vizio WatchFree+ and in Latin American DIRECTV and we have a deal with the SABC and they’ll be broadcasting all the live games of Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies in South Africa, so all this means that there’s great visibility and that’s what the Women’s Cup is all about.

CPKC Stadium

Tell us about the CPKC Stadium…

Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies are going to play against arguably the best team in the NWSL, perhaps one of the top three in the world. I think this is a wonderful opportunity for Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies to be in this tournament, but specifically to play their first match against Kansas City in front of a sellout crowd in that beautiful stadium. Time Magazine recently published an article about the 100 most important places in the world and CPSK stadium was one of the 100 most important places in the world. The stadium has a lot of significance for woman’s football, what they’ve done there is they’ve done something absolutely incredible with regards to building something that’s really just for women, in the sense that women are the tenants right there, they are the hosts. They said that ever since they had their own stadium, it’s changed everything for them and that’s also reflected on the field – until last week they were top of the table. The venue has a lot of symbolism to it, and having the Women’s Cup played there and seeing Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies kick off the tournament against the home team there, I think is super important.

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And what is this about South Africa like to host the event in 2025?

We have not finalized the deal but the intention is that the Women’s Cup comes to South Africa in 2025 because we really feel that the African continent is the next big place for women’s football, I mean you already see it today with all these great African ladies playing in the NWSL and in Europe, I think it’s just going to continue to grow and we feel it’s very important the Women’s Cup is played in Africa.

Will we see more of that, or will it be a once off tournament in South Africa?

I hope it’s the first of many and I hope we’re able to bring the Women’s Cup to Africa next year and make it a permanent event in South Africa so that every year there’s a Women’s Cup tournament played in South Africa and the great teams from around the world play against Mamelodi and other great South African teams so that it’s something that is recurrent not definitely a one-time event.

KC Current describe playing in inaugural CPKC Stadium match

Kansas City Event Details

Following the Louisville tournament, The Women’s Cup will debut at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, the first stadium built exclusively for Women’s Professional Football. This four-team tournament will take place on August 14 and 17, featuring:

  • Kansas City: 2022 NWLS Finalist
  • Mamelodi Sundowns: Five-time South African League and two-time CAF Women’s Champions League winners
  • Atlético de Madrid: Three-time Spanish League and Copa de la Reina Champions
  • INAC Kobe Leonessa: Four-time Japanese League and Asian Cup Champions

Tournament Schedule:

  • Opening Matches: August 14
    • 5 p.m. CT: Atlético de Madrid vs. INAC Kobe
    • 8 p.m. CT: Kansas City vs. Mamelodi Sundown’s
  • Final: August 17 at 8 p.m. CT
  • Consolation Match: August 17 at 5 p.m. CT
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Louisville Event Highlights

The Women’s Cup returns to Louisville this summer for the third time (2021, 2022 & 2024) welcoming three global powerhouses alongside Racing Louisville for an exciting four-team tournament at Lynn Family Stadium. Competing teams include:

  • Racing Louisville: Three-time TWC Finalist and one time Champion
  • Juventus: Five-time Italian league Champions; three-time Coppa Italia and four-time Supercopa Italian Champions
  • Palmeiras: Four-time Brazilian league and Copa Libertadores Champions
  • Colo-Colo: Fifteen-time Chilean league and Copa Libertadores Champions

Tournament Schedule:

  • Semifinals: August 9
    • 5 p.m. ET: Juventus vs. Colo-Colo
    • 8 p.m. ET: Racing Louisville vs. Palmeiras
  • Final: August 13 at 8 p.m. ET
  • Third Place Match: August 13 at 5 p.m. ET

Past Champions:

  • 2021: Racing Louisville
  • 2022: OL Reign
  • 2023: Atlético de Madrid
  • 2024: NJ/NY Gotham FC
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By Matlhomola Morake

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