- The event is supported by the CSD–Universo Mujer Program and will take place the 12th of September in Madrid
- In Spain, between 2003 and 2013, the amount of federated women has undergone a rise of over 300%
World Football Summit presents, within its initiatives, a day dedicated exclusively to women’s football to be held on September 12th in Madrid which will feature an attractive program and first class speakers within this emerging industry.
The aim of Women’s Football Summit is to bring together international industry experts, learn from their best practices and attract both national and international companies. Confirmed speakers include Sarai Bareman, Director of FIFA Chief Women’s Football Officer; Pedro Malabia, LaLiga Women’s Football Director; Ebru Köksal, Director of Women in Football and Member of Scottish FA EDAB; Gavin Makel, Head of Women’s Football at Manchester City FC and Linda Wijkström, General Secretary of the Swedish Women’s Football Club Association, amongst others.
«We want to contribute with the growth of women’s football, so we have launched Women’s Football Summit whereby we want to gather experts from all over the world as well as send a message of confidence to companies to support this sport,» states Marian Otamendi, Director of World Football Summit.
According to Pedro Malabia, «Women’s football has been experiencing an exponential development worldwide in recent times, not only in terms of participation but also in terms of assistance, monitoring and commercial and audiovisual development. From LaLiga, we have been leading the dynamism of Spanish women’s football project in order to place it at its proper place, laying the foundation for professionalization and creating strategies for its development as a quality product, providing significant added value to our Clubs.
Events such as Women’s Football Summit are very important as they allow to bring together in a single forum different experts and the main players within the women’s football industry, something that will allow the exchange of experiences, projects and knowledge and that will contribute to the growth of women’s football worldwide and will add much value to the development in which we are immersed».
The program of the congress is structured around 5 discussion tables where topics such as the commercial potential of women’s football, their future in the audiovisual field, the promotion of national competitions, the integration of a women’s team within the structure of a Club or the commitment of the agents involved, will be held.
The women’s football is in a stage of scarce maturity in comparison to other industries but is experiencing rapid growth. According to FIFA official data, around 26 million women play football on a regular basis in 180 countries around the world. For its part, UEFA’s Annual Report on Women’s Football in Europe shows more interesting information that emphasizes the rapid growth of women’s competition in the old continent: the number of women playing football has multiplied by five since 1985, there are more than 7,000 women referees and 21,000 coaches; 53 European regions have national women’s teams and 51 countries organize their own women’s league. As for Spain, between 2003 and 2013, the volume of federated women has increased from 11,300 licenses to 40,606, a spectacular increase of more than 300% in just ten years.
Women’s Football Summit has the support of Universo Mujer of the CSD, a comprehensive program for the development of women that grants special conditions to those companies supporting the project. For more information on the Congress and registration please click here.
