Photo Credit: Jonathan Exley – CC BY-SA 3.0
Globally-renowned equality pioneer and sporting icon Billie Jean King has thrown her support behind the ground-breaking ambition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020.
King will be at the final on Sunday 8 March to be part of this historic opportunity to set a new record for attendance at a women’s sporting fixture. The current record of 90,185 was set at the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup final held at the Rose Bowl in the USA.
The former women’s world number one tennis player and winner of 39 Grand Slam titles is a global leader and champion for diversity and inclusion.
King was recently named on top of the list of ‘Women Who Changed the World in the Last Century’ by Newsweek magazine.
In addition to attending the final, King will headline a special International Women’s Day event on Friday 6 March, also in Melbourne, as the keynote speaker at the Change Our Game Lunch.
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 commences on Friday 21 February and will be a nationwide festival involving 10 teams playing 23 matches across Australia, culminating in the final at the biggest cricket stadium in the world, the MCG.
Billie Jean King said:
“It is an honour to be part of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and the International Women’s Day celebrations planned in Melbourne.
“This year, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Original 9 and the birth of women’s professional tennis, and what we did to change tennis and all sports, we hope to bring that same vision for equality, opportunity and acceptance to the World Cup this March.”
ICC T20 World Cup 2020 Local Organising Committee CEO, Nick Hockley said:
“We are absolutely thrilled that Billie Jean King, the global pioneer in equality through sport, will be joining us for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final.
“We thank Billie Jean for her inspirational leadership as we countdown to what we hope will be a fantastic celebration that helps accelerate the current momentum in the development of cricket and all sports for women and girls.”
King recently featured in a short film released by the ICC T20 World Cup celebrating stories of trailblazing women, urging fans to be part of history and #FILLTHEMCG for the final on 8 March. Click here to watch the video.
International music star Katy Perry will perform at the final, with a pre-match show to be followed by a post-match performance.
Tickets to all ICC Women’s T20 World Cup matches, including the final, are available from $20 for adults and all children’s tickets are just $5. Tickets can be purchased at t20worldcup.com.
Tickets to the Change Our Game Community Sport Symposium and International Women’s Day Lunch are on sale at http://changeourgame.vic.gov.au/leadership-centre/IWD.
