FIFA doubles funding and releases new guidelines for women’s football development

World football governing body FIFA is set to double its development funding for women’s football for the next four-year cycle while also releasing the FIFA Women’s Football Development Programs and Guidelines 2015-2018 as part of its role in promoting the games.

The guidelines provide all 209 member associations with the necessary information to apply for and benefit from FIFA’s women’s football development programs for 2015-2018.

They have been developed based on feedback from member associations and confederations as well as players, coaches, referees and officials who participated in the 2011-2014 programs.

In total, there are nine different types of programs for member association to choose from, focusing on four main areas of football development – competitions, management, education and promotion. This includes the Live Your Goals campaign launched in 2011 to inspire more young girls and women to get involved in football.

The new guidelines also outline FIFA’s ten key development principles for women’s football, which were defined by the FIFA Task Force for Women’s Football and approved by the 64th FIFA Congress in June this year. Additionally, member associations have another useful resource in the form of the new brochure Women’s Football: Progression, Rise and Challenges published recently on FIFA.com.

Member associations can submit applications to the FIFA Development Office in their respective region on a yearly basis by mid-October. A standard budget request and financial report form have been created to ensure financial transparency – an important aspect for FIFA-funded programs in line with the General Regulations for FIFA Development Programs that came into force in July 2013.

FIFA expects and helps its member associations and the confederations to support and develop women’s football. A lot of progress has been made but there is much more work that can be done by the global football community to harness its true potential for growth.

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