When the Women’s World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand on Thursday every city hosting a match will be identified by two names. One will be the English placename people are most familiar with; the other will be in the language of the Indigenous nation whose land the city sits on.
The tournament will get under way in Auckland-Tāmaki Makaurau with the first match between co-hosts New Zealand and Norway. Across the Tasman a few hours later, it’s expected that nearly 80,000 people will pack the stands of Stadium Australia to watch Australia play the Republic of Ireland – that game will be in Sydney/Gadigal. As the tournament progresses, teams will play in cities including Melbourne/Naarm, Perth/Borloo and Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
For the first time in a World Cup, the nine host cities will be referred to by the dual names in all signage, broadcasts, stadiums and online material.
Some of the cultural initiatives were prompted by a panel of six Indigenous women – three from each host country appointed by Fifa to advise the institution on inclusion and respect.
Janelle Riki-Waaka, a member of the panel, who is Māori and runs a consultancy firm, said the group had advised Fifa on a variety of subjects including the Māori welcomes from local iwi (tribes) that will take place before each game, and for every visiting team, in accordance with tikanga (custom) for guests.
“That’s never been done before, to the best of my knowledge, in any women’s worldwide tournament anywhere,” Riki-Waaka said.
Fifa’s Women’s World Cup 2023 chief executive, Dave Beeche, said in 2021 that branding highlighting Indigenous cultures of the host nations was a “fitting symbol” of the impact the tournament hoped to have.
“We are proud to see our Māori and Indigenous Australian cultures play a key role in the creation of this powerful and unique global brand,” he said.
In Australia, the decision to incorporate Indigenous names reflects a broader push to use First Nations names and languages, and comes with the country set to vote on creating an Indigenous voice to parliament later this year.
Fifa has also agreed to display the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori flags at stadiums for the first time. The decision came at the 11th hour after extensive lobbying from the Australian and New Zealand football federations.
“Every major tournament, my family’s come along and brought their own Aboriginal flag and for me that’s obviously a part of my history and my culture and to see my family in the crowd, obviously holding up the flag as well, is something that’s close to home for me,” Maltidas forward and Anaiwan woman Kyah Simon said before Fifa’s flag announcement.
“There’s no better place than being here on home soil in Australia to display our Indigenous First Nations culture and heritage and I’m hoping that people that come from abroad can see that rich culture that we do have here and also be educated along the way.”
In New Zealand, poi – a ball on a cord used in kapa haka, Māori performing arts – will be distributed at match venues. A new waiata (song) released for the event encourages spectators to try the art form.
Appropriation of Māori culture has proved a problem in sports before, and the World Cup has not been exempt. At one of the ceremonies to welcome teams to the Fifa event this week, members of the Spanish team apologised to their hosts for a recent video of players mocking the haka, a Māori dance, filmed shortly after they arrived in New Zealand.
“We’ve only been a few days in Aotearoa New Zealand, and there’s still much to learn about this culture,” team captain Ivana Andres told members of the iwi Rangitāne, according to 1News.
Riki-Waaka said such episodes showed that not every country “was in the same place in terms of honouring Indigenous people” and that more education was needed for teams visiting the country about customs and expectations ahead of future events.
But the elevation of Māori language and culture in the tournament was a “powerful” force, she added.
“The ripple effects of this are huge and I don’t think we can underestimate them,” she said. “It is about normalising our reo outside of Māori spaces, in mainstream spaces.”
The raising of the tino rangatiratanga (Māori sovereignty) flag at the stadium in Tāmaki-Makaurau (Auckland) on Thursday night, Riki-Waaka said, would be an emotional moment.
“It is a mihi from Fifa and from all those visiting teams to honour us as the first people of Aotearoa,” she said, using the Māori word for a greeting. “I’m proud of a lot of stuff at this tournament, but that in particular is a really cool thing.”
For the Australian team, recognising and celebrating First Nations cultures has always been an important issue. Noongar woman Lydia Williams, who is a Matildas goalkeeper, spoke recently about how the greater recognition of Indigenous people in sport has helped anchor her own identity.
“It’s something I got to reconnect with, and it was really lovely for me,” she said. “I think sports really helped me, I guess. It feels like a safe space for me to really talk about it and explore it more and still understand and grow in it.”
That increased visibility and support of Indigenous women across all sport is important for the next generation to see. “Hopefully that’s inspired them and made them feel really proud of their culture and who they are,” Williams said.
