FIFA President Gianni Infantino underscored FIFA’s dedication to women’s football and reflected on its recent growth during a forum for women’s football leaders in Bangkok, Thailand. The Leadership Forum: Executive Women in Football event took place two days before the 74th FIFA Congress and was attended by female FIFA Council Members as well as female Member Association presidents, vice presidents, general secretaries, and executive committee members.
FIFA’s Chief Women’s Football Officer, Dame Sarai Bareman, opened the event, which also featured an address by Football Association of Thailand (FAT) President Nualphan Lamsam, who became the first woman to occupy the role earlier this year. The event included a panel discussion featuring FIFA Vice President and Chair of The Football Association Debbie Hewitt MBE, FIFA Council Member and Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association President Sonia Fulford, and Portuguese Football Association General Secretary Teresa Romão.
“I had the opportunity to engage with female executive leaders by highlighting FIFA’s commitment to women’s football and encouraging them to continue pushing us to improve the women’s game,” said FIFA President Infantino.
“This event, designed to bolster FIFA’s efforts to accelerate the growth of women’s football and increase female representation in the sport, united female leaders to empower and celebrate them while harnessing the opportunity of the 74th FIFA Congress to create a strong global network of executive women.
“We remain committed to broadening female representation and diversity in football decision-making at all levels by refining regulatory frameworks and creating supported pathways for women. Football’s popularity stems from its accessibility, and we aim to extend that inclusivity at all levels of the game—on and off the pitch.”
Currently, there are 10 female presidents and 24 female general secretaries among FIFA’s 211 Member Associations. Additionally, 83% of FIFA Member Associations have at least one female executive committee member, up from 64% in 2019. Seventy-two percent of FIFA Member Associations have a women’s football committee.
Infantino noted that the decision to increase the number of teams at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ to 32 was a “huge success,” featuring eight debutants and surprising results, and generating record-breaking revenues. “This shows the health of women’s football. It shows that we were right in investing in women’s football,” he said.
He explained that FIFA is expanding its women’s youth tournaments to provide more players the chance to play competitive international games. “We have to proceed along this path that we have started,” Infantino said, acknowledging that there is still much work to be done. “We have to do more, we have to do better. We mustn’t make the mistake of copying men’s football; we have to develop something specific for the women’s game so it can grow in the best way.”
