Push women’s football
Accelerate the growth of women’s football
FIFA has made sizeable strides off the pitch to hasten the growth of women’s football. Options to restructure the calendar are being investigated to globalise both exposure and playing opportunities while generating revenues that can be reinvested in developing the sphere and increasing its professionalism, at the same time respecting its specificities.
Reform competitions
The Vision 2020-2023 outlines a goal to reform the women’s competition system with the introduction of new events, encompassing both senior and youth tournaments. Strategies to achieve the optimal number and frequency of competitions are currently under consideration with the objective of enabling women’s football to grow at an exponential rate.
Enhance the game's commercial value
FIFA’s commercial programme has evolved to take into consideration the specific needs of the women’s game with a preliminary analysis undertaken as to the marketable value of a more frequent FIFA Women’s World Cup™.
The first exclusive media rights to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ were awarded in the Nordic countries.
Modernise women's development programmes
As part of FIFA’s goal for every member associations (MA) to have a women’s football strategy in place by 2022, the Women’s Football Division is working with MAs in Botswana, the Dominican Republic, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on their key focus areas.
Eight new initiatives related to the Women’s Development Programme were launched, including access to tailored expertise in conjunction with the publication of the new FIFA Women’s Football Administrator Handbook. Workshops with over 80 MAs have taken place to support women’s football experts to implement many of these projects, and women’s football programmes on technical leadership are also being delivered to MA technical directors.
In addition, via the third stage of the FIFA COVID-19 Relief Plan, each MA is entitled to receive up to USD 500,000 for the protection and resumption of women’s football, ensuring that it remains at the top of the game’s agenda around the world.
Utilising football’s power as a force for social development, FIFA is also working with UN Women and the French Development Agency to develop projects aimed at tackling women’s issues in Africa, as well as other potential projects during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
Enhance the professionalisation of women's football on and off the pitch
Recognising the need for a broader understanding of the context in which women’s football professionals operate, a representative group was supported practically by the second meeting of the Professional Women’s Football Task Force – which prioritised training rewards and research in women’s football – and the publication of the new Women’s Football Administrator Handbook.