Los Angeles (AFP)
A new women's football franchise, set to debut in 2022, will be created by a group led by actress Natalie Portman alongside other Hollywood and sports figures, such as Jessica Chastain, Eva Longoria and Serena Williams, announced. Tuesday League (NWSL).
"A group founded largely by women and led by actress and activist Natalie Portman (...) has secured the exclusive right to bring a professional women's football team to Los Angeles to make their debut in the spring of 2022" , said the instance.
The Los Angeles team, tentatively named Angel City, will become the eleventh in the North American Women's League, while another new franchise, Louisville FC, will join the current nine teams in 2021.
Besides Portman, the other members of the founding group are technology venture capitalist Kara Nortman and video game entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, who will chair the team.
"Today, we take an exciting step forward in announcing the first group to own a female-led franchise," said Natalie Portman, 2011 Oscar winner for her performance in "Black Swan."
“Sport is such a joyful way of bringing people together, and it has the power to make a tangible change for female athletes, both in our community and in the professional sphere,” she added.
"We hope to have a substantial impact on our community, by committing to expand access to sport for young people in Los Angeles," continued the actress, who during her career has been active in various social causes, including the Time's Up movement, which fights harassment and sexual abuse in the entertainment industry.
At his side, it is a real cast of stars who will invest in this project, including other actresses like Jessica Chastain, Eva Longoria, Jennifer Garner, and athletes including Serena Williams and more than a dozen former players. football, among which Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Abby Wambach.
The NWSL was the first professional collective sports league in the United States to resume operations this summer, despite the persistent coronavirus pandemic.
But several of its reigning world champion stars, such as Megan Rapinoe, have given up on participating in this Challenge Cup which has been taking place behind closed doors in Utah since June 27 and is due to end next Sunday.
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