FIFA mandates inclusion of more female coaches in women’s competitions

FIFA has mandated that every team participating in its women’s competitions must have at least one female head or assistant coach.

The directive is part of new regulations by the world football governing body to increase the number of women coaching at the highest level.

The regulations, approved by the FIFA Council on Thursday, will take effect from the U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cups, as well as the Women’s Champions Cup.

FIFA Chief Football Officer Jill Ellis said that each team must also have at least two female staff members on the bench.

This, Ellis said, had become a requirement that will apply across all its women’s tournaments from youth to senior level.

“There are simply not enough women in coaching today.

“We must do more to accelerate change by creating clearer pathways, expanding opportunities, and increasing visibility for women on our sidelines.

“The new FIFA regulations, combined with targeted development programmes, mark an important investment in both the current and future generations of female coaches,” she said.

Ellis noted that only 12 of the 32 head coaches at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia were women, a figure FIFA said does not reflect the rapid global growth of the women’s game.

She added that Sarina Wiegman of England was the only female coach left after the round of 16 and went on to lead her team to a second-place finish.

According to her, the 2023 Member Associations Survey showed that women made up an average of five per cent of coaches across both male and female teams globally.

Ellis said that FIFA’s 2024 “Setting the Pace” benchmarking report, which surveyed 86 women’s leagues worldwide, found that 22 per cent of head coaches were women.

She said the new rules formed part of a long-term strategy to ensure that women’s representation in technical and leadership roles kept pace with the growth of the women’s game.

The organisation added that it had increased support for women’s coaching in recent years, including the provision of scholarships for women in top leagues to obtain UEFA Pro or A coaching licences. (Reuters/NAN)

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