Uefa to invest £830m in women’s football development

Uefa has pledged a commitment of 1 billion euros (£830 million) towards women’s football over the coming six years. This initiative aims to establish women’s football as the most widely played team sport among women in Europe. This announcement follows the success of England’s women’s team, who secured the European Championship title in 2022 and were runners-up in the 2023 World Cup. The European governing body intends to allocate these funds, sourced from “competition revenues and Uefa investment,” to national team competitions, club competitions, and national associations. Uefa’s ambition is to position Europe as “the home of the world’s top players,” targeting the establishment of six fully professional leagues and a total of 5,000 fully professional players across the continent. Nadine Kessler, Uefa managing director of women’s football, stated, “European women’s football has never been in a better place.” She added, “It has become a sport for the masses, attracting an ever-growing and diverse fan base, and partners that wholeheartedly contribute to its growth.” This new six-year strategy, named ‘Unstoppable’, has been unveiled at a time when women’s football is experiencing increased financial strength. For instance, analysts reported in June that the Women’s Super League achieved record revenue during the 2022-23 season. Furthermore, the 2023 World Cup, hosted in Australia and New Zealand and won by Spain, generated revenues of £440 million. Kessler informed the BBC World Service earlier this month that, “We cannot just focus on the countries that are already advanced in their development.” She further explained, “This strategy will bring much more tailor-made support for those countries that need special help.” As part of this investment, Uefa plans to introduce a second women’s European club competition, designed to rank below the Champions League. This new competition is envisioned as a straight knockout format, where participating teams would compete against clubs eliminated in the early stages of the Champions League. Separately, Euro 2025, organized by Uefa, is scheduled to take place in Switzerland. Concurrently, The Football Association (FA) has released its own four-year strategy for women and girls’ football, emphasizing safeguarding and investment as key areas. Beyond fostering equal opportunities and promoting diversity, the FA also aims to secure another major international tournament victory. The FA commits to arranging regular matches against world-class opponents and enhancing talent identification processes. It asserts that a primary objective throughout its strategy is to ensure safe environments for all female footballers, particularly in light of recent player-coach relationships within the WSL. To achieve this, the strategy includes provisions for more leadership courses, improved education, and enhanced governance of safeguarding. The FA also highlights the protection of the “uniqueness” of the women’s game as a priority and expresses its intention to secure “significant funding and investment” specifically tailored for women’s football.