Welcome to football country! With this slogan, Germany
successfully won the right to host the FIFA World Cup™ in the
summer of 2006, going on to reveal herself as a passionate
footballing country in every sense. The fantastic atmosphere was
characterised by the fundamental values of our sport such as
fairness, friendliness, respect and tolerance, and was generated by
the boundless passion of millions of fans at home and abroad.
Countless girls and women played an integral part in creating this
joyful euphoria.
Specifically in Germany, women and girls have been largely
responsible for the dramatic increase in German Football
Association (DFB) membership in recent years. Furthermore, the
tremendous international success of the women's team has made a
major contribution to the nation's favourite sport. Germany is
not just a football country, but specifically a country of
women's and girls' football. "The future of football
is feminine," according to FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, a
vision which has already become reality here to a very large
extent.
Following the fantastic men's FIFA World Cup in 2006, we
would even now extend a warm welcome to Germany to fans from every
continent, for a hopefully no less impressive and thrilling global
festival of women's football in 2011. Five years after the
unforgettable summer of 2006, the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011
promises to be a wonderful tournament and source of excitement and
joy, when our nation and its people will again show themselves to
be friendly, peaceful, cosmopolitan and hospitable.
Since the beginning of 2008, our Organising Committee has
been busy with initial preparations for the tournament. I
personally consider it a great honour that the DFB Executive
Committee under its President Dr Theo Zwanziger appointed me
President of the Organising Committee. I do not regard myself
merely as a figurehead, but as an active member of the OC team. I
have always seen myself as a team player - as a member of the
national team and at club level in Frankfurt, and during the two
years I spent with Washington Freedom in the USA professional
league - and will continue to do so.
Naturally, we at the OC can build on the extensive experience
and know-how gained at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and we benefit from
the flawless infrastructure and wonderful array of stadiums
constructed for and since that event. However, the FIFA Women's
World Cup 2011, which will in any case be smaller and of different
dimensions due to the starting field of 16, should not aim to be a
duplicate of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. We want this tournament to
write its own story, a family-oriented story based on a sense of
togetherness, itself a strong characteristic exhibited by women and
girls.
Moreover, we hope the tournament will advance two further
causes which lie close to our hearts. On the one hand, we wish to
enhance the standing of women's and girls' football both
nationally and internationally on a permanent basis. On the other
hand we hope to strengthen and accelerate the game's power as a
force for integration, which I also accept as a personal challenge.
For a long time now, it has been one of my guiding principles to
intervene on other people's behalf, and involve myself in
social and socio-political matters.
Against this background, we wish everyone the warmest of
welcomes to our festival of women's football in Germany.
Celebrate with us, discover the passion and excitement of the
women's game, and let yourself be bewitched and immersed in a
very special sense of togetherness! I'm joining you in looking
forward to a reunion with friends.
