FIFA to choose 2023 Women's World Cup hosts on June 25

 The hosts for the 2023 women`s World Cup will be chosen at an online meeting of the FIFA Council on June 25, the global soccer body said on Friday.

FIFA will choose between Brazil, Colombia, Japan and a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand in what it said was the "most competitive bidding process" in the event`s 29-year history. None of the bidding nations have staged the event before.

The hosts were originally due to be chosen at a FIFA Council meeting in Addis Ababa in June but that was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“FIFA remains committed to implementing the most comprehensive, objective and transparent bidding process in the history of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, said FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura.

FIFA said its evaluation report on the four bids will be published in early June. South Korea and South Africa dropped out of the race in December.

The 2023 tournament will feature 32 teams for the first time, up from 24 in France in 2019.