Tasmania will soon learn whether it will play a role in the 2023 Women's World Cup.
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Launceston's UTAS Stadium is one of 13 venues across 12 cities vying to co-host the tournament, which would mark the biggest sporting event ever held on Tasmanian shores.
Football Tasmania chief executive Matt Bulkeley was cautiously optimistic when predicting whether the state of Tasmania would be read out in the "fairly imminent" announcement.
"It's hard to say - we're hopeful," Bulkeley said.
"A lot of work has been done by Football Australia and Events Tasmania - we think we've collectively done a good job of putting the case forward for Launceston to be a host city, but there's obviously lots of competition and it is a FIFA decision so we're waiting in anticipation."
UTAS Stadium has been making plenty of headlines recently with City of Launceston endorsing a $208 million draft future directions plan for the venue at its meeting on Thursday.
Part of the proposed redevelopment includes retractable seating in the northern and eastern stands which would allow the ground to take on a rectangular configuration for soccer and rugby matches.
"Any improvement to York Park that will make it a better spectator experience for football fans we would welcome," Bulkeley said.
"The idea of maybe retractable seats or whatever is proposed, if it does achieve that, I think that would be a good outcome.
"But we haven't seen a lot of detail and we're looking forward to talking to the council about that."
With the World Cup fewer than 30 months away and Tasmania's bid for an A-League side seemingly growing stronger by the day, the upgrade plans come at a critical time.
UTAS Stadium is one of only two non-rectangular venues bidding for hosting rights, and four that currently fall short of FIFA's minimum requirements.
City of Launceston mayor Albert Van Zetten said while the whole UTAS Stadium upgrade would not be completed by 2023, there was a possibility of staggering the development to cater for the World Cup.
Bulkeley said ground suitability would factor heavily in FIFA's final decision.
"Whether any improvements to York Park will be ready in time we're not sure, we'll look at the detail [in the future directions plan].
"But in terms of bringing elite football to the state and Launceston, if it's more football-friendly in terms of viewing, that would be a positive thing."
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