General view during the opening ceremony before the match REUTERS/David Rowland(Reuters) - The ninth Women's World Cup opened with a celebration of New Zealand's traditional Maori culture on Thursday, despite a shooting near the Norwegian team hotel in the country's largest city of Auckland that left three dead and six injured. Authorities deployed extra police and security outside the stadium following the shooting. But the sport has achieved greater prominence in recent years, with large increases in female players and spectators globally. Tracey Taylor, a professor of sports management at RMIT University in Melbourne, said many members of grassroots football clubs expected the tournament to have a transformative effect for participation in women’s sport in Australia. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many New Zealanders to experience a top-tier FIFA World Cup event,” he said.
