FIFA: United, van Zetten left deflated by failed cup bid

City of Launceston mayor Albert van Zetten said he was disappointed by the announcement.

"It's important not to lose sight of the fact that it was an incredibly competitive field, with bids across Australia and New Zealand," Cr van Zetten said.

Launceston's lack of a large-scale rectangular stadium had been cited as a potential detractor from the city's bid.

"The reality is, these stadiums selected by FIFA are already fit-for-purpose for World Cup football," Cr van Zetten said.

"We understand the decision, as it was always going to be difficult to upgrade the stadium in time for the World Cup in two years."

Launceston United co-coach Lynden Prince said, however, that UTAS Stadium was more than appropriate for hosting games considering previous and upcoming A-League fixtures slated for the arena.

"We've played A-League games there [UTAS] before and we've got a couple coming up ... it's still good enough watch World Cup games I think," he said.

"When the AFL come down they reckon it's the best ground to play on surface-wise, you need that good surface for soccer, it would've been nice to host something at UTAS."

Prince said the omission was all-the-more bitter given the growth of the sport in the state, particularly for women.

"It's disappointing when we're trying to promote ladies' football in the state," he said.

"We've increased the Super League this year and I think the players will be disappointed as well."

Cr van Zetten said the situation highlighted the reasoning for its proposed $208 million upgrades for UTAS Stadium, which would expand its capacity to 27,500 people and include a high-performance sports centre and 5000-seat indoor sports facility.

"We strongly believe that this plan is pivotal to our chances moving forward to attract regular future top-flight content for the stadium," he said.