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The 5th FIFA women’s football symposium was held in Frankfurt between 15-17th of July to coincide with the 2011 World Cup. Almost 500 delegates from across the world met to discuss the development of women‘s football. FIFA’s Head of Women’s Competition, Tatjana Haenni opened the conference by saying, “Women’s football is probably the most popular women’s team sport on the planet, but there is still work to be done in many areas so that the game can continue its exponential growth”.
The overall objectives for the symposium were to discuss how to increase participation, the promotion of the game and analysis of the overall competition structures. It was valuable for gathered Member Associations to exchange ideas, share experiences and review their strategic approach to women’s football.
Despite the growth of women’s football since the last symposium at the 2007 China World Cup, the Chairman of the Committee for Women’s Football, Worawi Makudi stated, “it is now time that all parties involved in women’s football increase their support and resources and adapt their structures in order to support the further growth and development of the sport”.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter closed the event on the third day and concluded that the tournament was a great example of growth within the game. He also commented on the competition structure and its influence on the growth of the game, “it’s essential to have organised leagues in your associations, because only when we have leagues will you get relevant development and experience to then compete in international competitions”.
The World Cup Final followed the close of the symposium and successfully gained a huge amount of positive publicity; Twitter recorded their highest ever number of tweets in the climax to the final between USA and Japan, a total of 7,196 tweets per second; a great boost for raising the profile of the sport.
Away from the World Cup, the recent appointment of Karen Espelund to UEFA’s executive committee is a fantastic step for women in football. Increasing representation on the board will help strengthen the role of women in football and will ultimately increase participation at grass roots level.
WSFF have really enjoyed the Women’s World Cup and hope that the increased profile and coverage for women’s football will continue throughout the second half of the WSL season.
