Overview
FIFA has published the Women’s Football: Member Associations Survey Report 2023, which builds on the findings of the equivalent report published in 2019.
The data is built around the three key objectives of the FIFA’s Women’s Football Strategy: grow participation, enhance the commercial value and build the foundations. The survey sent to FIFA‘s Member Associations featured more than 60 questions about the women’s football landscape.
This report is a resource for Member Associations, confederations and other stakeholders to better understand the current global landscape and make more informed decisions to further accelerate the growth of the women’s game.
Key findings
of women and girls playing organised football has increased by nearly a quarter compared to 2019
of member associations surveyed have a women’s football strategy
of member associations have a safeguarding policy
of member associations have a club licensing system in place at their top tier of domestic women’s football
of women’s top-tier senior domestic competitions have a dedicated women’s football sponsor
of member association executive committee members are female
of referees are women
of coaches are women
Methodology
To provide a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the current state of women’s football around the world, FIFA surveyed its 211 MAs.
As in the previous edition of this report, FIFA had significant interaction with its MAs, all of which were contacted to complete the survey. It again achieved an exceptionally positive response rate, with 96% of MAs (203) completing the survey.
The success of women’s football can be attributed to the dedication of FIFA’s 211 member associations (MAs) around the world and the supporting football ecosystem that works tirelessly to improve the women’s game.
Learn more about the global women’s football ecosystem and the MAs who participated in this report here.
FIFA aims to achieve the three key objectives of the Women’s Football Strategy by making progress in each of the following five strategic pillars:
Develop and grow
Since the launch of FIFA’s Women’s Development Programme in September 2020, FIFA has delivered more than 800 programmes across 120 MAs around the world. In total, 88% of MAs have a women’s football strategy. The number of youth competitions has grown from 1,717 in 2019 to 4,743 in 2023. Moreover, since 2021, FIFA has invested in the development of coaches, having awarded over 600 scholarships to female coaches across all six confederations.
Showcase the game
The FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ was a tournament of firsts. For the first time, the tournament featured 32 teams and was co-hosted by two MAs from two confederations in the Asia-Pacific region. A record 168 teams participated in the qualification stages. The tournament also featured eight debutants: Haiti, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Vietnam and Zambia.
Communicate and commercialise
Following the record audiences for the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 and the success of the tournament overall, FIFA launched a dedicated commercial programme for women’s football. On the eve of the tournament, FIFA announced that its first-ever dedicated Women’s World Cup partnership programme sold out with a strong line-up of brands from across the globe including Visa, Xero and Unilever.
Govern and lead
To ensure female representation within the game, FIFA worked on the implementation of the 2016 FIFA Reforms. The Women in Football Leadership Programme has seen 120 female executives graduate, while capacity-building for administrators successfully reached more than 1,300 men and women within the women’s game.
Following the implementation of a club licensing programme across many of our MAs, FIFA published a club licensing guide to support the professionalisation of the women’s game by raising the standards of clubs and leagues, working to strengthen the protection of female players and coaches through landmark maternity reforms.
Educate and empower
Football has the power to change the lives of boys and girls around the world and we’ve witnessed the power of change through women’s football in many of the initiatives taken by our MAs. For example, in South Sudan, a pilot project was undertaken to educate young women and girls on menstrual hygiene, whilst also providing them with adequate reusable sanitary products.
Furthermore, ongoing education of our stakeholders continues to promote the importance of training and preparing women as women.
Whilst the latest figures across all facets of the game have shown encouraging improvements in all areas, it is also clear that there is much more to be done.