FIFPro's Initiative to Push Women's Football Forward

FIFPro, the global representative for professional football players, published the 2020 Raising our Game women's football report, detailing research driven diagnostic of the current state of the women's game and recommendations for its future.

186 players from 18 countries were surveyed, representing the top female players worldwide. All 24 national football associations from the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup participated and, in some cases, the first division of leagues or a set of clubs across all confederations. All six FIFA confederations were approached for the study.

The goal of this report is to go in "pursuit of economic growth and long-term sustainability by mainly creating employment with basic rights, protections and conditions."

The important message here is that player working conditions play an essential role in the economic growth of the game. How many times have we heard people say, "women footballers cannot be paid the same as men because they don't generate the same amount of money and attention"? A lot. "The women's game needs money investment in order to improve". Yes, have heard that a lot too and it is not completely inaccurate. Nevertheless, more money does not automatically equal better working conditions nor a better game.

"Economic expansion without proper regulations is not sufficient nor sustainable" as explained in the report. The money invested into women's football should first go towards the improvement of player conditions. If the players have what they need to dedicate to football as a profession, they will be able to reach their potential, raising the competitive level and thus helping teams and competitions offer quality football to fans and spectators. Then, more and more people are drawn to the game, generating attention and yes, money.

The Raising Our Game report presents research-based information about women's football in different areas in detail, both positive advances and things that need to change. Here are the main points from each:

Economic Growth

• Stakeholders believe the value of women's football is increasing.

• International competitions offer optimistic attendance data while domestic competitions show attendance has been stagnant overall. World Cups and Euros are more attractive to the spectator than domestic leagues due to competitive level disparities.

• Broadcasting could be improved with smarter scheduling (for example finding available slots due to the high density and fragmented calendar of men’s competitions) and avoiding regular changes to competition structures.

• The women’s game offers unique opportunities to sponsors: the values it represents (equality, perseverance, women's empowerment, among many others) can be converted into revenue streams.

• Bundling of both broadcast and sponsorship agreements with men's teams makes it extremely hard to determine the value of women's football as a standalone product, which is essential to build its market value.

Player Conditions

• In most leagues, a player can play 22 matches or less per season, hindering sustained development. This makes it usual to see players signing for two clubs in different countries in order to get more competition out of the year.

• Competitive level disparity due to the cost associated with meeting the criteria for a fully professional league.

• 3.6% of players surveyed reported not receiving any money to play, which is completely unacceptable. These are players competing in World Cups.

• Some advances have been made, like Australia's A-League and W-League implementing the same base condition across both men’s and women’s competitions. Another example is Ajax, which signed a collective agreement for players which guarantees women the same minimum wage, holidays, health insurance, and loss of income insurance as men.

• There needs to be more highly qualified executives in the governance of the game and in football club hierarchies in order to move the game forward.

• Lack of creativity in the marketing and promotion of women’s football was one of the most cited challenges in the survey.

• Players reported physiotherapist, team doctor and assistant coach as the top three staff positions that are most lacking.

• 73% of FIFA’s Member Organizations have women’s national teams. 27% of them are inactive (play 4 matches or less in 18 months against ranked teams).

• 76% of national federations have a women’s football strategy. Only 49.5% of them have a women’s football department.

Player Voices

• Players seek long term solutions and further developing the DNA of the women’s game (proximity to fans, accessible role models, opportunities for education, etc.)

• They also are eager to share their opinions and experiences. Historically, women's football has had to overcome many obstacles and that has given strength and determination to today's footballers to continue doing the same.

• Fan engagement from player-centric positions driven by the visibility and influence players are attaining when speaking out about the change needed in women’s football and society.

• Collective bargaining agreements and collective organization is pivotal for the growth of the women's game.

Call to Action

• Fair treatment, decent work, equal opportunities and the right to viable career paths as professionals in this industry should be the main priorities for women's football.

• The potential of women's football as a sport and industry depends on the players being able to fulfill their potential as athletes.

• There is not a one-size-fits-all model for women's football. Models should be designed to fit the needs and circumstances of each country and competition. Nevertheless, there needs to be one common denominator: working conditions must match the ambitions and potential in the game.

• Implementation and enforcement of Global Labor Standards for professional football and international tournaments, going from contracts and wages to data protection and parental policies.

• The work carried out by female players must first be recognized as labor in order to achieve professional status.

Looking Forward

The Raising Our Game report by FIFPro is a very powerful source of knowledge and an amazing tool that can be used to shape the near future of women's football. Here are my thoughts and opinions:

• There needs to be further research on what is happening in confederations outside of Europe. From the stakeholder’s responses in the survey, only 13% correspond to AFC, 9% to CONCACAF and 9% to CAF. These are confederations similar in size to UEFA, and they should work with their national federations to take the initiative and carry out research of this kind to improve women's football in their regions.

• There needs to be an investment of time and resources to attract more fans to domestic league games all season long. Besides improving players working conditions and competitive level, there also need to be professionals outside the pitch working on communication plans, marketing strategies, gameday events and more. If teams don't treat their women's teams like they’re a big deal, why would fans?

• Players need to have the opportunity to become qualified professionals so when they are ready to hang their boots, they can become part of the staff in teams, federations and other governing bodies and fulfill the roles the women's game is missing. Who is going to understand and fight for women's football better than the players themselves?

• The difference in prize money that men's and women's teams receive in international competitions is excessive. For example, in Copa Libertadores, the women's prize (USD 285,000) represents only 0.41% of the men's (USD 211.1 million). Another eye-opening example is the EUR 5 million prize pool for the Women's UEFA Champions League, which represents 0.00000025% of the EUR 2 billion (yes, with a b) that the men's edition has. Prize money for men's tournaments are exponentially increased every year. Do you really think a club in any of those two competitions would suffer an economic strain from receiving a bit less money? I don't. Some of that money could be invested in women’s competitions.

• Women's football needs allies in the core of football and in decision-making positions. There are as many good-hearted professionals that care about the women's game and work hard to improve it as people that pretend they do, or that make no effort at all to contribute to its growth. In Spain, for example, the federation decided to terminate the league due to COVID-19 a few days ago. Finding alternatives to finish the season seemed like it was never an option (unlike other top leagues in England and Germany for example), showing lack of effort and interest in the women's game. This decision meant a loss of over EUR 1 million.

• The sky is the limit for women's football. All the data showed in this report points to areas of improvement that will lead to success. We must believe in it and act upon it.

What other conclusions and courses of action do you recommend? Let me know in the comments. Subscribe to my blog to be notified of future articles.

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