The Switzerland football team yesterday announced it had selected Dunedin as its base camp for the Fifa Women’s World Cup next year.
Players and management will stay at the Distinction Hotel and use Tahuna Park, undergoing a spruce-up, as their main training ground.
Following the draw in October, all participating teams based in New Zealand made a series of visits across the country to ascertain preferred training locations.
Switzerland, which is in group A with the Football Ferns and plays both the Philippines (July 21) and New Zealand (July 30) at Forsyth Barr Stadium, checked out the options in Dunedin and gave the thumbs-up.
The Swiss are ranked 21st in the world, and their star attraction is forward Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic, who plays for Barcelona and has 67 goals in 133 games for the national team.
"It is an honour to be selected as the team base camp host city for the Swiss women’s football team, especially given Fifa itself is headquartered in Switzerland," Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich said in a statement.
"We will roll out an exceptional welcome to the team while they are in the city and show them how much Dunedin loves to get behind and support visiting teams, as much as our own."
Esther Gilbert, co-ordinator for the Swiss community of Otago and Southland, was excited at the announcement.
"Dunedin is the greatest little city and it’s a real privilege that we get to host the Swiss team here and share it with them," she said.
The highest-profile team, the United States, will be based in Auckland, as will Argentina, Norway, Italy, Vietnam, the Philippines and the Football Ferns.
Palmerston North (Spain), Hamilton (Zambia), Christchurch (Japan), Tauranga (the Netherlands) and Wellington (Sweden) will also be used as team base camps in New Zealand.
