With the Fifa Women’s World Cup coming to Jamaica in 2031, Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) President Christopher Samuda says they will do everything possible to support the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) in ensuring the tournament’s success, on both sporting and cultural fronts.

It was confirmed last month that Jamaica and Costa Rica will join the United States and Mexico in hosting matches for the 11th edition of the senior women’s showpiece in six years’ time.

It is a historic development for Jamaica which is set to become the first Caribbean country to host a senior World Cup match, whether men or women. The number of games the island will have, at what is expected to be an upgraded National Stadium in Jamaica, will be determined next April at the FIFA Congress in Canada.

As the host nation, Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz, who have qualified for the past two World Cups, is expected to automatically take part in the 48-team tournament.

With the JFF being a member association of the JOA, Samuda told the Jamaica Observer that discussions with President Michael Ricketts surrounding the hosting process will be had in short order.

“We have always assisted our federations in their endeavour to successfully host regional and international games and this presents us with a very golden opportunity to collaborate with the Jamaica Football Federation and lend the expertise that we have developed in terms of games management to them,” he said.

“We have always had a very close relationship with the Jamaica Football Federation and looking at 2031, we would have to, of course, start the plan from now so we will be meeting with the president of the JFF to see how best we can coordinate our efforts to ensure that Jamaica delivers on its promise and its obligations where 2031 is concerned.”

While the Women’s World Cup is primarily a football event, Samuda says Jamaica must use the opportunity to push its tourism and cultural experiences.

“I have always maintained that sporting events are not simply events in and of themselves. They are experiences and that, of course, lends to the sustainability of events. When persons come and not only experience the glamour, the competition of the sport, but also the culture of the nation and the culture of the country,” he said.

“We must have a way of merging the two successfully in order to ensure that we give those stakeholders – external stakeholders and those who will be coming from overseas, an entire package that will allow them to see that Jamaica not only is a nation of sporting prowess but it is also a cultural mecca in which sport is situated and has successfully been achieved.”

The JOA boss believes it will also open doors for other sports to host major international events.

“It will give Jamaica a spotlight to shine not only on our infrastructure of the game of football but also on other sports as well because if we can do it for football, then we can do it for other sports,” Samuda said. “It will demonstrate to stakeholders, particularly our financial stakeholders, that we are in a position to host international games at a standard that is accepted by our international federations and our governing bodies.”

He added: “We have assisted several associations in their bid to host regional tournaments and they have materialised and what we want to do is to ensure that Jamaica becomes the hub for sporting events in this region and this bid is going to go a far way in ensuring that we realise that objective.”