Australia women's football shirt to be made in female sizes after outrage over omission at kit launch

Female Australia women's football fans will be able to buy the team's new away kit by next year, after outrage over the bizarre omission of women's sizes in the kit launch last week.

Football Federation Australia was left red-faced and forced to apologise when it emerged that the new Nike Matildas away shirt was only being sold in men's sizes and would not be on the market for female fans until 2022.

The news drew anger online, and came just two months after Australia was selected with New Zealand as joint hosts for the next women's World Cup, due to be held in 2023.

On Wednesday, FFA announced it and Nike had tried to rectify the problem and intended to speed up production to make the kit available from 2021, saying the initial decision "was not consistent with their values".

“FFA, together with Nike, have listened to fans and consumers and as a result the away kit will be available for purchase early in the new year,” an FFA release said. “Women’s football and gender equality is a fundamental strategic pillar for FFA. Principle X of the XI Principles for the future of Australian football demonstrates our renewed commitment to women’s football and places it at the heart of the continued growth and development of Australian football.

“The initial unavailability of 2020 national teams away kits in a women’s silhouette was not consistent with the values in which FFA seeks to uphold and promote. FFA acknowledges this, and will place added emphasis on ensuring that future processes are aligned with the organisation’s broader vision and mission for the sport.”

The u-turn is one that will help appease their critics, which included Matildas players themselves with Elise Kellond-Knight calling it a "fairly significant problem" on Twitter last week.