Canada withdraws Edmonton bid for Women's World Cup

The Canadian Soccer Association on Thursday announced it had withdrawn its bid to stage Women's World Cup matches in Edmonton so that CONCACAF could present ''a unanimous bid to host the World Cup.ö

The Canadian decision, CSA President Andy Sharpe said in a release, was reached after conversations with CONCACAF President Jack Warner, who had initially supported an Edmonton bid.

The Canadian plan was to place one of four first-round groups in a U.S.-hosted tournament in Edmonton, with Canada the featured team. Commonwealth Stadium drew 49,000 for the FIFA U-19 final last summer, and 34,000 have bought tickets to a Canada-Mexico women's match on Aug. 31.

The United States is heavily favored to be selected as host of the 2003 tournament, replacing China, which lost the tournament because of the SARS crisis. Sweden also has bid to stage the tournament.