ZURICH: Days after FIFA formed its first ever global strategy for women’s football, UEFA has announced that it will be increasing its subsidy from 100,000 euros ($115,850) to 150,000 euros ($174,000) by 2020 to all its 55 member nations as part of its Women’s Football Development Programme (WFDP). The aim of the WFDP is to give UEFA and the national associations the chance to implement their visions as well as allowing them to advance in accordance with their respective needs.
UEFA’s HatTrick programme, which complements WFDP by redistributing funds through revenues from the UEFA European Championship, has invested more than 1.8 billion euros ($2.08 billion) back into the game since its introduction following the Euro 2004 tournament. The scheme has helped UEFA’s members to build national training centres and invest in grassroots projects to develop football at all levels.
“The potential for women’s football is limitless and it is with this in mind UEFA has taken the step to increase the funding available to the national associations to help improve the women’s game across the continent,” UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said.
“Increasing the participation and the role of women in football has been one of my main objectives, both before and after I became UEFA president.”
The announcement forms part of UEFA’s pledge to the #WhatIf campaign – a social media-based initiative created by the not-for-profit organisation ‘Women in Football’ that champions female talent in a bid to bring about a change in attitudes to professional women working in the industry.
“We launched #WhatIf nearly five months ago and the support we have received from the football industry and beyond has been immense.
“To now welcome UEFA, the governing body of European football, to join our inaugural campaign is a huge honour.
“We hope UEFA’s support will now encourage and inspire its 55 member associations to come on board and make unique pledges of their own to continue the momentum of change.” Women in Football chairperson chairperson Ebru Köksal said.
Women’s football has never been in a stronger position. The 2017 UEFA Women’s EURO in the Netherlands saw a global cumulative live audience of 178 million viewers watching the tournament, while a total of 240,045 spectators beat the previous record of 216,888 at the 2013 finals in Sweden.
Players such as Ada Hegerberg, Lieke Martens and Pernille Harder have become global stars in their own right and role models to young girls across Europe and beyond. In order to ensure that young girls have the opportunity to emulate their idols, UEFA launched the #WePlayStrong campaign in June 2017. The initiative is aimed at transforming perceptions of women’s football and encouraging girls to take up and continue playing the sport. In order to achieve this, UEFA is working closely with its 55 member associations to ensure that football is the number one sport for women across Europe by 2020.
“This game has so much to look forward to, so much potential to unleash, so much value to offer to football and society.
“I cannot stress enough how committed we are to make an impact for the good of the game.
“The players, the coaches, the fans, as well as the administrators working hard behind the scenes – all deserve to be championed. The pace of this sport’s growth is impressive, and our increasing investments clearly show how dedicated we are to accelerating this pace. We are getting ready to take on the next challenges and reach new heights. I’m convinced we will do so.” UEFA’s head of women’s football Nadine Kessler said.
