Throughout 2024 Unrepresented Sports have worked to deliver the inaugural Unrepresented World Cup, attempting to breathe new life into a format that hadn’t been held since 2018 and deliver a competition that would have been more accessible to supporters and teams than some previous tournaments would have allowed. This was first announced in May on social media and received positive reactions from many supporters of football outside the world’s governing largest body after many have been calling for another approach to non-FIFA football.
Two options for the inaugural host location were identified and conversations started to be held with one preferred option recognised as the “perfect place to host the tournament” with a local community we knew would engage with our plans and help us deliver for the following summer. It was during some of these early conversations that some of the initial details were adjusted and changed to focus on a 6-team women’s competition being pursued in 2025, with a larger 8-team men’s event, held in the same location, and targeted for 2026, aligning it with the traditional World Cup calendar for unaffiliated football.
Over the course of 2024 we focused our efforts on delivering a strong competition and held conversations with various participants who had represented both participants of long-standing competitions and those looking to participate in their first competition. During this time we also spoke with various local sponsors who showed an interest in being involved in the tournament both in 2025 and 2026.
Throughout this time the impression we received was that everyone could see the benefits this tournament could deliver and we were collectively working to identify the best means to deliver it. The progress made over the previous six months was extensive with teams preparing to make their first participation payments once the official reveal announcement was made. An announcement that was ready to be made once support could be put into writing.
Unfortunately, at the end of October, Unrepresented Sports was notified that this would not be coming and we would no longer be able to progress our plans. Everyone at Unrepresented Sports who had spent much of the year focusing on this project has been left disappointed by the decision with months of progress lost, and no opportunities to deliver for the original 2025 timetable.
Unrepresented Sports has notified all participants of the news, who collectively share our disappointment. Unrepresented Sports will now be working to re-evaluate its opportunities in 2026 and will be continuing an open dialogue with many teams that had expressed an interest. Unrepresented Sports will welcome new opportunities from interested hosts and participants to help inform the decision of how best to progress future plans.
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