[FIFA]: Notice 1913_ FIFA Women’s Football Strategy and FIFA Women’s Development Plan

To FIFA Member Associations Circular 1913 Zurich, 13 December 2024 FIFA Women’s Football Strategy and FIFA Women’s Development Plan Dear Sir or Madam, Last year, the sport of women’s football was transformed by the record-breaking FIFA Women’s World Cup™ hosted in New Zealand and Australia. reached a new level. Women’s football has grown exponentially since 2016, reflected in increased global exposure, rising levels of competition and, of course, millions of girls and women taking part in the sport around the world. To spearhead sustainable growth in women’s football until 2027, FIFA has revised its Global Women’s Football Strategy, aiming to set the pace for the sport’s growth trajectory. As part of this process, FIFA has developed a sharp set of tactics and action plans specifically targeting women’s football. To achieve the ambitious goals set out in the FIFA Women’s Football Strategy: 2024-2027, FIFA aims to increase opportunities for girls and women both on and off the pitch. To further support our member associations, we have updated and re-launched the FIFA Women’s Development Plan, which provides all 211 member associations with tailored initiatives and focuses on key aspects of the development of women’s football. The attached FIFA Women’s Development Program brochure provides an overview of the revised Women’s Development Programme, setting out key information and important details such as the objectives of each programme, the support provided by FIFA and application criteria. The women’s development programs offered are as follows: Women’s Football Strategy – Women’s Football – International Football Federation FIFA – Strasse20P.O.Box8044 Zurich Switzerland T: 41(0)432227777 www.FIFA.com Federation Development – Club Licensing – Commercial Strategy (Pilot) – Global Women’s Alliance Benchmark – Capacity Building for Administrators – Women’s Leadership in Football – Coaching Education Scholarship (Individual) – Coaching Education Scholarship (Group) – Coaching – Elite Performance: Coaching – Elite Performance: Women’s National Team Preparation – All member associations are eligible to apply for and benefit from these women’s development programs and can submit applications for multiple programs in the same year, provided they are consistent with Their overall strategic goals are consistent with/or the feminization of football strategy. Additionally, FIFA Forward funding could be linked to and supplemented by these projects. Application Process Applications for the FIFA Women’s Development Program are now open and all relevant forms can be accessed on the FIFA Forward platform. •Member associations need to designate an authorized contact person to submit applications for women’s development projects through the FIFAForward platform. •The name, role and email address of the nominated contact should be sent to Women’s Football Development Manager Ada Bonilla Duarte. [email protected] . 2 • The contact person will receive an email containing a link to the FIFAForward platform and instructions for completing and submitting the Women’s Football Development Program application. •Member associations must submit the relevant application form for each project and attach a copy of the current women’s football strategy or an overall strategy detailing their women’s football objectives. •Applications will be evaluated based on their quality, completeness and the specific needs of each member association. If you have any questions about the FIFA Women’s Football Strategy or the FIFA Women’s Development Plan, please feel free to contact Arijana Demirovic, Head of Women’s Football, at:[请在此处输入邮箱地址]. [email protected] g. We appreciate your attention to the above and are at your disposal if you have any questions. Yours faithfully, Mattias Grafström Secretary General of FIFA Includes: – FIFA Women’s Football Strategy: 2024-2027 – FIFA Women’s Development Plan Handbook cc: – FIFA Council – League 3 Women’s Football Strategy 2024-2027 | Women’s Football Strategy: 2024-2027 CONTENTS OF THE YEAR CONTENTS I II INTRODUCTION MAIN GOALS OF FEMALE GAMING III GAME PLAN AND STRATEGY 12 Increase participation 15 Improve commercial value 16 Build the foundation 22 Develop and grow 26 Showcase the game 30 Communication and commercialization 34 Governance and leadership 38 Education and empowerment | Section 1 INTRODUCTION Every day, the number of women and girls involved in football continues to increase, The number of fans following women’s football is also rising globally. In 2018, FIFA launched its first global women’s football strategy, which clarified that FIFA will work with various stakeholders to ensure the sustainable development of women’s football. Despite women’s football’s exponential growth, the passion and potential of the game still represents huge untapped opportunities, making it the biggest growth opportunity in football. Driven by the pinnacle of women’s football, the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which happens every four years, we are able to significantly boost the growth of the sport. The 2015 event in Canada attracted unprecedented attention, with more than 750 million fans watching worldwide. When held in France in 2019, the event broke the boundaries of mainstream media, with a total of 1.12 billion viewers experiencing the charm of the game in more than 200 regions. And in 2023, the FIFA Women’s World Cup #BeyondGreatness in Australia and New Zealand attracted more than 2 billion supporters and sold out stadiums to almost 2 million spectators. 5 | Section 1 Introduction GOAL8 FIFA Women’s Football Strategy plans the path for FIFA to cooperate with its stakeholders to promote the development of women’s football. The FIFA Women’s World Cup has accelerated our progress at every level, with more women now having the opportunity to make a living from the football they love – on and off the pitch. At a grassroots level, we are seeing more investment in women’s football and more young girls being given the opportunity to play this beautiful game. The FIFA Women’s Football Strategy, implemented since 2018, has been continuously monitored and kept dynamic to ensure that it continues to achieve the objectives set out in the overarching FIFA strategy, which is redefined before the start of each cycle. Define its strategic objectives. Football Unites the World: The strategic objectives of the global game are strategies for the 2023-2027 cycle. To spearhead the sustainable growth of women’s football until 2027, the year of the next FIFA Women’s World Cup, FIFA has revised its global women’s football strategy to set the pace for our sport’s rapid growth trajectory. FIFA Overarching Strategic Goal 8 sets FIFA’s dually ambitious goals to “host the greatest ever FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023 to further the development of women’s football”. TheFIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ achieves this by surpassing all previous benchmarks, further transforming women’s football and accelerating global development efforts at an unprecedented rate. Against this backdrop, the 2023-2027 cycle is ready to materialize on many fronts. 6 Women’s football has grown very well. The huge opportunities and potential brought by the sport make it the biggest growth opportunity for football. | Section 2 Key objectives for the women’s game Key objectives for the women’s game The FIFA Women’s Football Strategy continues the organisation’s overall strategic plan from 2018, which sets out how FIFA continues to lead the way in sustainability for the sport increase. In the context of achieving FIFA’s strategic goals for global football, FIFA remains committed to achieving the overall women’s football-specific goals: GROWPARTICIPATION Improving commercial value Building the foundation 11 | Section II Main goals of the women’s game Section II | The women’s game Key Goals GROWPARTICIPATION FIFA’s goals are to promote football to its 211 member associations around the world, create opportunities for girls and women to participate in areas where football is not yet popular, and improve and add more opportunities and quality of the game in areas where women are already actively participating. . Increasing women’s participation in football is key to achieving FIFA’s strategic goals. FIFA will modernize its women’s development programs and initiatives to expand participation on and off the field, with many projects working to build on existing female participation pathways and add a unique dimension to the game. We will work to ensure that more women and girls around the world have increased access to football and support our member associations in achieving the targets set out in their own women’s football strategies. 12 | SECOND SECTION WOMEN’S GAME ✁ Key objective to demonstrate the commercial value of FIFA’s ✁ Women’s World Cup, the world’s largest ✁ commercial partner, broadcaster and digital platform, THENEXTSTEP is supporting our ✁ membership unlocking value ✁ associated with all levels ✁ of women’s football. Improving commercial value FIFA’s ability to develop games depends on its effectiveness in commercializing games. TheFIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 is the first version to adopt an innovative and independent business model, laying a solid foundation for enhancing the commercial value of women’s football. We have an unprecedented opportunity to expand FIFA’s development efforts through the development of the women’s football competition and provide all relevant stakeholders with the necessary strategic guidance to achieve the same goals at domestic and continental levels. Having demonstrated the commercial value of the FIFA Women’s World Cup to the world’s largest ✁commercial partners, broadcasters and digital platforms, the next step is to support our ✁member associations to unlock the ✁value of women’s football at every level. We will optimize existing events to maximize their quality and commercial benefits. We will also place equal emphasis on creating new events to provide more opportunities for women to compete on the world stage. 15 | Section 2 Women’s Game ✁ Key Objectives Building the Foundation As the International Football Association (FIFA) works to increase women’s participation in football and promote related commercial interests, we will build on this foundation to further improve and standardize the more complex ✁ Women’s football ecosystem . We will continue to invest in further initiatives to empower more women to work at all levels of football, on and off the pitch. To achieve this, the game’s regulatory framework must be modernized and football leadership accurately and comprehensively reflect the sport itself. In addition to taking concrete steps to empower more women into leadership positions, FIFA is committed to closing the gender research gap by conducting targeted research on women’s football globally. Such ✁ research is vital to the professionalization and development of women’s football ✁ globally and will enhance the decision-making process for all football stakeholders ✁. 16 This is the key to ✁ The game ✁ The regulatory framework is modern ✁ The football leader is a precise ✁, diverse ✁ REPRESENTATION of the game itself. | Section 3 Game Plan and Tactics Game Plan and Strategy FIFA will achieve its goals by executing a five-pronged ✁ strategy: Development and Growth Showcase Game Communications and Business GOVERNANDLEAD Education and Empowerment 21 | Section 3 Game Plan and Tactics Development and Growth Game Plan FIFA will focus on developing women’s football at all levels, both on and off the field. FIFA will also support member associations in developing football locally to retain and increase female participation and take all necessary measures to ensure girls and women have clear pathways to participate in, manage and govern football. As well as making football more accessible to girls and women around the world, FIFA will also take concrete steps to enhance and showcase best practice in elite women’s football. Specifically, FIFA will: Increase the number of female players to 60 million by 2027; • Improve the standards of women’s football clubs and leagues across all member associations; • Doubling the number of member associations organizing youth leagues between 2018 and 2026 • Ensure that by 2027, all FIFA member associations have developed and implemented a comprehensive women’s football strategy; Develop, implement and expand the FIFA ✁ Football in Schools programme; • Promote closer collaboration, education and advocacy in women’s football between FIFA, federations and member associations. 22 Section 3 | Game Plan and Tactics | Development and Growth Tactics Project 60 Million to promote, retain and measure participation in women’s football ✁ at all levels through the use of targeted ✁ programs and an incentivized registration system, with the ultimate goal of getting ✁ 60 million girls and women play football. Organizing the Global Women’s Football Academy to explore the possibility of creating elite women’s football academies by member associations to ensure that the necessary infrastructure exists to provide girls and women with structured and regular training opportunities in preparation for national, regional and international competitions. Provide support and expertise in player infrastructure, development, technical team education, and high-performance program planning and implementation. Modern Existing Development plans to review and continuously optimize the existing portfolio of women’s development projects to identify the most impactful projects. As the game ✁ evolves, build new ✁ programs to achieve ✁ measurable goals related to mass participation, elite youth pathway development, national-level leagues, and technical, coaching and referee development programs. Develop FIFA✁Football for Schools Programme, leveraging existing ✁school structures across all Member Associations, integrating football into the school curriculum (where possible) and increasing opportunities for young girls to participate in organized ✁football activities✁, with a particular focus on providing transition for girls to clubs Football✁Opportunity. Improving technical development will increase the number of ✁qualified female coaches✁ in the sport by creating pathways for them to gain qualifications✁ and increase opportunities for access to coaching positions✁. To this end, a dedicated career development path for female coaches will be established, including mentorship programs and a better learning environment to ensure that talented female coaches have the same education and opportunities as their male counterparts. 2425 | Section 3 Game Plan and Tactics Showcase Game Plan As part of FIFA’s wider efforts✁ to host the largest ever✁ FIFA Women’s World Cup✁ and, in turn, further develop women’s football✁ we will optimize our ✁Competitions guaranteed to showcase the best✁players and teams in the world. FIFA ✁ competition will be set