2023 Women's World Cup CEO David Beeche opens up on tournament milestones and leaving a lasting legacy

In amongst the alarming and overwhelming news cycle of the past few weeks, it's easy to forget that Australia and New Zealand are less than 500 days away from hosting one of the biggest sports tournaments in history.

While our timelines have been filled with images of war, pandemics, and natural disasters, FIFA and the 2023 Women's World Cup team have been quietly working behind the scenes to get the two countries and their combined nine host cities prepared for the world to descend upon them next July.

Despite the outside noise, 2023 World Cup CEO David Beech said preparations are still comfortably on course.

«The tournament overall is on track,» Beech told the ABC in an exclusive interview.

«Operationally, we're nailing all our milestones, in spite of the challenges that COVID-19 has thrown at us. In the last four or five months, we've launched a new brand identity – which has been a real first taste of what's to come in terms of breaking new ground with this tournament.

»We've announced the match schedule, which is another key milestone. And then, on the horizon, we'll be announcing the official draw date and location, and we'll be announcing the play-off tournament.

«I think the easing of the recent border restrictions in both Australia and NZ is going to help a lot; if those had dragged on, we might have had a few more risks to manage.

»But as it stands today, I feel like we've got the wind behind us as things are opening up.

«There's not a big difference between 500 days and a year to go, and that's when things will really start to ramp up in terms of engagement and mobilisation of the public behind the event.»

One reason for the invisibility of the tournament so far – aside from these occasional celebratory milestones – is