The World Football Governing body, FIFA on Monday, published the fourth edition of its Setting the Pace benchmarking report, offering an insight into the women’s football landscape.
The report covers 86 leagues and 669 clubs — a jump from just 34 leagues and 316 clubs respectively which were analyzed in the 2023 edition.
The report endeavours to look at what has led to the improvement in Women’s Football and what can improve as the Women’s game keeps moving from strength to strength.
In a sporting sense FIFA found out that, On average;
- leagues that had three different winners over the past three seasons saw significantly higher broadcast revenue (USD 325k) and partners (2.8) compared to leagues with one winner (USD 251k and 1.3, respectively).
- Globally, 42% of referees per league were female, ranging from 57% in Tier 2 to 25% in Tier 3.
- While 55% of leagues utilise referee communication systems, indicating their widespread adoption, video assistant refereeing (VAR) technology is less prevalent, present in only 9% of leagues.
- Despite the crucial role that head coaches play in shaping a team’s identity and success, women remain under-represented in this position, making up just 22% of head coaches (with no significant trend across tiers).
In light of the expansive findings detailed in the report, edition four of Setting the Pace offers 15 recommendations for the consideration of leagues and clubs. These recommendations cover all six topic areas, and include insights into season lengths, player and coach pathways, safeguarding, strategy development, contracts, maternity regulations, broadcast and social media, and more.
One of the recommendations given is that to unlock funding opportunities through the FIFA Forward Regulations, leagues must meet specific criteria, including a minimum duration of six months, 90 matches played and ten participating teams. Currently, 44% of leagues fulfil these requirements.
Meanwhile MAs that have not yet met these subcriteria can seek support through the FIFA Women’s Football Development Programme to bridge the gap and access valuable resources.
In December last year, FIFA announced Global Benchmarking of Women’s Leagues as a new programme within its Women’s Development Programme structure through to 2027 – the year of the next FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in Brazil.
By committing to conduct regular, in-depth research into women’s club football and to provide additional insights to Member Associations via a dedicated digital dashboard, FIFA underscored its commitment to helping enhance the overall quality and competitiveness of women’s leagues worldwide through intentional and insightful research and analysis.
With Women’s Football growing in Zambia, the report can help to gauge where the country is and act as a blueprint on where to go next.
The Eden University Women’s Super League and the National Division One can both benefit from the recommendations given by FIFA.
Read the Full Report Here ;
