Is FIFA's planned $1 billion investment enough for women's soccer?

Soccer, just like most sports has been a "male domain" for a long time. Over the years women have been working to make their mark in the sport and we have noted a remarkable rise in the recognition of women soccer. Women from all walks of life view the game as a tool for cutting across all boundaries in terms of society, race, religion, ethnicity and socio-economic circumstances.

Ashlyn Harris, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Allie Long celebrate during the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team Victory Parade and City Hall Ceremony on July 10, 2019 in New York City.

(July 9, 2019 - Source: Getty Images North America)

The introduction of the pinnacle of women soccer, FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991 and subsequently the FIFA U-20 and U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2002 and 2008 respectively was a major milestone. Investments at the grassroots level increased. The FIFA Forward program has made the genesis of new leagues and competitions possible with increased funding. The level of play has dramatically improved, media attention has increased exponentially, and the game has grown in popularity. However, there is no denying the fact that soccer is still a male-dominated sport. The question now becomes how do we make women soccer just as big?

Why women soccer is still not as big as the men's

One of the reasons why women soccer always seems less exciting lies in the media itself. Quality media coverage plays a major role in the prominence of a sport. While the common perception is that if women soccer was worthy of more coverage they would have it, what is apparent is the fact that the popularity of the game comes from the media itself. Men’s soccer is definitely going to seem more exciting since they have higher production values, higher-quality coverage, and higher-quality commentary. In contrast, there are fewer camera angles, fewer cuts to shot, fewer instant replays when we watch women’s soccer, so hell yeah, it’s going to seem to be a slower and less exciting game.

Perhaps we do look at soccer as a feminist issue, but that is because it is. Some argue that women soccer is less prominent than men's soccer because of the gap in physical strength and athleticism lying between genders. However how sure are we that it is a good enough reason to push men's soccer into prominence over their female counterparts? Is it not just us being a chauvinistic society? I am sure a lot will agree with me that one of the best soccer games that they have ever watched regardless of gender was the Canada vs USA Olympic match in 2012. Canada’s Christine Sinclair put her team on her back and almost carried them into the gold medal match, only to be thwarted by questionable officiating. Sinclair displayed great athleticism that some of her male counterparts have never been able to display. That game represented the beauty of athletic competition.

Fans of Canada before the match between Canada and Zimbabwe womens football for the summer olympics at Arena Corinthians on August 6, 2016 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

(Aug. 5, 2016 - Source: Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images South America)

However, if female fans cannot consistently support women soccer in order for the teams to remain solvent, why should men suffer a gender inequality stroke? Women themselves tend to be enemies of the game for not rendering enough support to their kind, the way males do.

Lack of proper support and funding resulting in lower salary rates and revenue obviously makes the women's game less appealing to young girls and less lucrative to investors.

The much needed intervention

Over the years, women have treated soccer as more than just a game, playing with passion (whether it's in the stadium or on village fields, with world-class gear or hand me downs). This drive to take the game to the next level has also been noted. This hasn't gone unnoticed as various sponsors began to see women's soccer clubs as lucrative investments. Consequently, media coverage increased and so did the fan base. However, the competitive and commercial success women soccer has attained over the years stands in stark contrast to the underlying challenges that face the game and its leaders when it comes to development from the grassroots – which represents the future of the game away from the spotlight.

FIFA has done a great job investing in women's soccer through various programs such as the FIFA Forward program that has made funding at the grassroots level possible. Resultantly, new leagues and competitions have been created awarding a lot of women the chance to play the game on a higher level.

Apart from financial investments, FIFA’s Women’s Football Strategy also outlines how the governing body plans to work with confederations, member associations, clubs and players, the media, fans and other stakeholders to confront and surmount the challenges faced in the game.

FIFA's recent contribution has made huge waves, at the FIFA Football Conference in Milan in September 2019, soccer’s supreme promised to invest $1 billion in the women’s game over the next four years. (2019 to 2022). “We need to be a little bit brave and a little bit bold if we want to move women’s football onto the next level – we need to stop copying what we do in the men’s game,” said Infantino (FIFA president).

South Africa line up prior to to the Women's Group E first round match against China PR on Day 1 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 6, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

(Aug. 5, 2016 - Source: Harry How/Getty Images South America)

Aside from the billion-dollar funding, Infantino plans to launch a Women’s Club World Cup within the next two years (2020 and 2021) and revive his idea for a Women’s World League, mimicking a Nations League on a global scale. In addition to the above, during the June annual congress of the world federation, Infantino earmarked $500 million for the women’s game in the 2019-2022 cycle. This was in response to criticism over the minimal prize money on offer at the Women’s World Cup in France. After the success of the competition, that plan was quickly revised. The tournament’s expansion to a 32-team format for the 2023 iteration got fast-tracked so as to exploit the game’s new success.

There is no denying that FIFA is indeed doing a great job in supporting the women's game. However, the two burning questions are: "who benefits from this funding?" and "is it enough"?

Who benefits from the billion-dollar deal?

Details on how the $1 billion will be funded, distributed and audited to ensure that it reaches women and girls at the grassroots and truly grows the game, remain vague. However, it is apparent that much development will be considered at the top of the pyramid, further elevating leagues that are already established and have guaranteed lucrative charts. This will indeed increase the popularity of women soccer and guarantee better salaries and benefits for players who already belong to certain leagues. This is an awesome deal, but what happens to the rest of the girls playing soccer in village fields, with great passion but zero opportunities?

"A change made to the top layer of the pyramid will always be short-lived until a change is made to the base." - Lovejoy Munamati

Is the billion-dollar funding enough?

Increasing funds in women soccer will undeniably lift the game's influence to an unimaginable level. FIFA's billion dollars will go a long way in further improving the game's influence. However, is money the ultimate solution? Will it solve the various problems that lead to the women's game being less influential than their counterparts? Will it really bring the change we are looking for?

Well the simple answer to all these questions is NO. Of course we need funding to move forward and to ultimately change the game. However, to help everyone involved, be it an established player or a simple girl with nothing but passion and dreams of brighter days playing somewhere in a village we will need more than just funds.

The long-standing lack of women in positions of responsibility in the football community has led to limited voices to advocate for change. Years of institutional neglect and a lack of investment have prevented girls and women from playing the game and from assuming roles in technical, administrative and governance functions. Honestly only a woman can understand the pains and needs of another, a man in power can try to but never pinpoint the actual problem women are facing. In 2016, the FIFA Congress made the first steps to rectify this problem by approving some landmark decisions for women’s football and the representation of women in football. Realizing that funds alone will not solve this issue, FIFA football strategy has put a plan forward to include women in administrative roles and correct historical errors.

As much as we want funds to keep pouring in, the truth is funds don't just pour into washed-out associations. To receive the maximum amount of funding, federations must meet certain criteria including investment in women’s soccer, according to FIFA’s Forward 2.0 program.

These criteria include:

a) Organizing a regular, nation-wide women’s competition that lasts over a period of six months, involving at least ten teams, and playing at least 90 matches

b) Having an active women’s national team that plays at least four official or friendly matches in one calendar year

c) Having active girls’ national teams in at least two age categories who play at least four games per calendar year.

However not every association can manage to meet the above conditions as roughly a quarter of FIFA member associations simply don’t field senior women’s teams. A good example is Pakistan’s women’s national team which last played a game in 2014, the year the national league became defunct. Pakistan is not a loner, after participating in the 2015 Women’s World Cup, Colombia barely played competitive soccer. So in essence funding alone is a good solution for well-established associations that can easily sustain their influence, of which many teams struggle to do that.

“Over the years, women have treated soccer as more than just a game, playing with passion (whether it’s in the stadium or on village fields, with world-class gear or hand me downs). This drive to take the game to the next level has also been noted. This hasn’t gone unnoticed as various sponsors began to see women’s soccer clubs as lucrative investments. ”

— Lovejoy Tabeth Munamati, FirstTouch Africa

FIFA can do much more

Apart from providing funds FIFA can do so much more for women's soccer. The FIFA women's football strategy has outlined its objectives as part of the FIFA forward 2.0. The objectives illustrate support that goes beyond funding and includes:

Megan Rapinoe receives The Best FIFA Women's Player of the Year award from FIFA President Gianni Infantino during The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 at Teatro alla Scala on September 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy.

(Sept. 22, 2019 - Source: Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images Europe)

Growing participation

Increasing the level of female participation in football is central to the organization’s ability to reach the goals and objectives outlined in FIFA 2.0: The Vision for the Future. This will allow FIFA to reach both communities where soccer is not well established and those where women grace the pitch every day. The non-profit organization will work diligently to ensure that more women have increased access to football in regions all over the world while supporting its member associations in achieving their own women’s football objectives.

Enhance the commercial value

FIFA's effectiveness to commercialize its competitions and events determines its ability to develop the game. With tremendous opportunity to expand its development efforts by creating new revenue streams from its women’s competitions and events, the organization will optimize existing competitions in order to maximize their quality.

Build the foundations

Building upon the current foundations to effectively govern and regulate a more sophisticated women’s football ecosystem is one of FIFA Forward 2.0's goals. The organization will further develop leadership training platforms designed to attract women to the upper ranks of the football industry. With the knowledge that increasing female participation in football will play a major role in realizing the organization’s larger goals of growing the game, FIFA is pretty keen on women's soccer development.

The goals of the FIFA Forward 2.0 for women’s' soccer are to be achieved using a 5-pronged strategy. The strategy involves developing and growing the game, showcasing, communication and commercialization, governing and leading, education and empowerment.

With all the above interventions along with the billion-dollar investment, women's soccer should be good to go. However infrastructural development is another issue to contend with. Infrastructure development at both club and national team level is one sector FIFA can venture into. With state of the art infrastructure comes great passion, skills in the game. Hence FIFA's 1-billion-dollar investment might still not be enough to ultimately develop women's soccer. However, the investment will go a long way in changing women's soccer as we know it. As FIFA's president, Infantino stated while speaking about the investment:

"There will be a before, and an after, the Women’s World Cup 2019, in terms of women’s football,”

How is soccer keeping Niger girls in school?

Education and football are working hand in glove to improve the lives of girls in Niger. The West African country is among the poorest in the world with the highest rates of early childhood marriage. A startling three in four adolescent girls are married before the age of 18, as a result, many girls do not finish school.

Photo Credit: Unicef.org

After dropping out of school and marrying at a young age, they lose out on the opportunities that education provides for young women.  A football program that is funded by UNICEF is helping to change the status quo for many out-of-school girls in Niger.  This program has been supporting soccer academies for young women, such as Academie Atcha in Niger’s capital Niamey. The academy combines both academics and football which is an incentive for the girls to attend school while also playing the game, which has effectively increased the student retention rates. Through education, these young women are widening their options for their future. Over the past two years, UNICEF together with the National Football Federation has been organizing a national tournament for girls under the age of 17.

“The organization of this tournament goes beyond the question of sport. It aims above all to challenge stereotypes and gender norms. Sport can help girls to place themselves on an equal footing with boys…When girls play, when girls go to school, when girls are no longer victims of violence, when childhood is not shortcut by marriage, the world wins!”- Felicite Tchibindat, UNICEF Representative in Niger.

Breaking boundaries on and off the pitch

As a predominantly Muslim country, it is not common for girls to pursue a career in football. The young women who play the game are faced with gender stereotypes and restrictions that become obstacles for them. Niger’s senior women’s national team has also shared struggles to be excepted from the community which believes that women should never play football as a profession. Despite the opposition from communities and religious leaders who disapprove of girls playing football, the families of the footballers give their full support to the girls. Football is not only giving the girls access to education but also gives these young women the confidence and agency to make decisions and use their talents to better their lives.  In turn, the girls are changing the rules and using the game as a vehicle to pursue their dreams, break gender stereotypes and change perceptions in their communities.

“Football is not just a man’s game. Girls can play as well.  In the past, after school, I went to the playground where boys practice football, but they refused to play with me arguing that football is not a sport for girls. I was shocked, and in my neighborhood, not a single girl plays football.”- 16-year-old Cherifa

Football with a difference

It is the right of every child to get an education. Sadly, millions of girls around the world are robbed of this right. Organizations such as UNICEF which are committed to partnering with communities to transform the lives of children are playing a pivotal role in showing the positive impact that sport and education have on young women.

Photo Credit: Unicef.org

Nelson Mandela once said that “sport has the power to change the world.” Football is more than just a game but a powerful force to support children and get them into school as is the case now in Niger. It builds confidence in their abilities and should be encouraged as they tackle the obstacles on and off the field. The young girls are breaking boundaries and shattering gender stereotypes despite being told by their community that they should not play football.