Rallying call urges football leaders to continue to strengthen women’s football

“There is nothing on this planet that can bring people together the way this tournament has; that can empower young girls and women the way this tournament has, to create a platform for greater societal change like the FIFA Women’s World Cup does.”

As teams, players, media and fans arrive home from Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, the afterglow of the FIFA Women’s World Cup continues to flicker.

The words of FIFA Chief Women’s Football Officer Sarai Bareman in her Women’s Football Convention speech were delivered on the eve of the final with demonstrable emotion.

Main photo: Sarai Bareman makes an impassioned address to the convention. Photo credit: FIFA.

Those who had long been on the journey to develop and grow women’s football were thanked for their tireless contributions.

But at the same time, the gauntlet was laid down, to ensure the history-making spectator and broadcast figures would be a catalyst to make more strides globally.

Three key reports on women’s football

During the FIFA Women’s Football Convention, three reports were released:

The third FIFA Women’s Benchmarking Report >>>>
Women’s Football: Member Associations Survey Report 2023 >>>>
The FIFA Women’s Health, Wellbeing, and Performance project >>>>

The survey report features more than 60 questions. The report can be used by member associations, confederations and other stakeholders to better understand the current global landscape and identify next steps needed to further accelerate the growth of the game in a tailor-made way.

In the benchmarking study, this year’s edition reflects the increased professionalisation of leagues globally. The report boasts participation from 316 clubs, making it a comprehensive analysis with global trends and local statistics across diverse leagues representing the six confederations.

The report also serves as an invaluable resource for all stakeholders engaged in the sport. FIFA remains committed to empowering stakeholders with data-driven knowledge, ensuring that women’s football continues to thrive and sets new benchmarks for excellence.

The FIFA Women’s Health, Wellbeing, and Performance project meanwhile has been in gestation for more than two years, and was compiled in conjunction with more than 20 global experts, to address crucial challenges in women’s health.

This pioneering initiative of FIFA’s Women’s Football Division has been dedicated to addressing crucial challenges in women’s health within the realm of sports, with a vision to elevate women’s participation, education, and performance to new horizons.

In the current landscape of women’s health in sports, the urgency to develop this area is evident.

The FIFA Women’s Health, Wellbeing, and Performance project is firmly committed to dismantling barriers that have previously impeded the realisation of women’s full potential in sports.

*Gianni Infantino … ‘we need everyone.’ Photo credit: FIFA.*

In his own opening speech at the aforementioned Women’s Football Convention, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said there was still much to do and urged FIFA’s partners to contribute.

“We need everyone. We need the UN agencies, who have been very helpful to us in this World Cup, participating with us. We need the governments, we need the institutions, to create dedicated spaces for women, and for women’s sport and women’s football in particular, of course. We need the partners, the sponsors to pay a fair price. We need the media,” Infantino said.

He urged FIFA’s member associations to ensure that they organise women’s leagues, pointing out that some of the players who had starred at the tournament would not have any competitive football to go home to.

“(Female players) cannot all go to play in a few clubs in Europe or the USA. We need in the next four years to create the conditions for them to be able to play at professional level at home and this is the biggest challenge we have to take on board,” he said.