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09/20 10:28 CDT The final round of the Women's Champions Cup will be played at Miami's Nu Stadium The final round of the Women's Champions Cup will be played at Miami's Nu Stadium By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Soccer Writer The final round of the second Women's Champions Cup, an intercontinental competition for club teams, will be played at Inter Miami's Nu Stadium in late January, FIFA announced Sunday. No U.S. women's club is set to play. Mexico's Club America will represent CONCACAF after defeating the Washington Spirit in the confederation's W Champions Cup in May. Spanish powerhouse Barcelona also has qualified for the four-team final round as the representative for UEFA. The winner of October's Copa Libertadores Femenina will qualify for CONMEBOL. The Champions Cup was created to give women's professional club teams greater opportunities for global competition, while building on the success of the game's marquee national team tournament, the Women's World Cup. "You're just seeing a lot more attention and growth to the sport, and I think that's really what we're trying to do, is not just focus on national teams, but now help and grow and develop and stimulate the players' week-in and week-out environment, and that's again through minimum standards. It's through financial investment. It's through creating competitions," FIFA Chief Football Officer Jill Ellis said. Ellis, former coach of the U.S. women's national team, told The Associated Press that Nu Stadium was chosen because it is a soccer-specific venue and a suitable size (26,700) for the competition. FIFA previously announced it was targeting the Miami area, which has demonstrated community support for soccer through a variety of competitions in recent years, Ellis said. The time zone and mild winter temperatures also were considered, as well as the fact that the United States has a strong domestic pro league, the National Women's Soccer League. In addition to Club America, Barcelona and the CONMEBOL representative, teams from Africa, Asia and Oceania will compete for the fourth spot in Miami. Auckland United FC, which won the OFC Champions League, will face AFC Champions League winners Naegohyang Women's FC in October. The winner of that match will advance to face Africa's representative from the CAF Women's Champions League tournament in December. Arsenal won the inaugural Women's Champions Cup with a 3-2 victory over Brazil's Corinthians in February. Arsenal earned $2.3 million for winning the intercontinental tournament. Corinthians took home $1 million as the runner-up. The Champions Cup also builds on the growing number of regional club competitions, led by the success of the UEFA Women's Champions League. "Part of building out a club competition is also with that will come club minimum standards," Ellis said. "We're working with the confederations now to make sure that there are minimum standards for you to be able to compete. So when you try and create a competition, it's not just creating a competition that brings global recognition to clubs and helps promote players, etc. There's also the incentive of stimulating growth in leagues and in confederations that obviously host the leagues." FIFA also is introducing a 16-team Women's Club World Cup, which will launch in 2028 and be played every four years. The new Champions Cup will be held every year, except years when the Club World Cup takes place. Ellis said when FIFA was considering the Champions Cup, there were only two confederations that had competitions for a confederation winner: UEFA and CONMEBOL. "Once we announced this competition, we've seen now we have all six of our confederations that have a competition," she said. "So sometimes when you build a competition, it actually drives investment in people wanting to participate and people wanting to invest in club football." ___ See AP's full soccer coverage here

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