Ellen Wille’s Pivotal 1986 Speech for Women’s Football

The 1986 Fifa congress took place in Mexico, which also hosted the men’s World Cup during the same year. “I got very angry and I said we have to do something about it,” stated Ellen Wille in 1986, expressing her frustration with Fifa, football’s global governing body. As a member of the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) executive committee, she had recently reviewed a Fifa report that completely omitted any mention of women’s football. The Oslo-based science teacher decided to address the issue directly, delivering a speech intended to capture the attention of Fifa’s leadership. The BBC World Service’s World Football programme has since examined the enduring influence of that speech on the trajectory of women’s football. Globally, female footballers contended with numerous struggles for recognition and encountered considerable opposition from within and outside the sport, exemplified by the absence of backing from its own international governing body. In the early 1970s, England’s Football Association lifted a five-decade prohibition on women’s football. The inaugural unofficial Women’s World Cup took place in Italy in 1970, followed by another unofficial international competition in Mexico a year later, which drew over 100,000 spectators; however, Fifa did not endorse either event. Wille, an amateur footballer herself, became a member of the NFF in 1976, the same year the organization sanctioned women’s football in Norway. She was unwilling to tolerate the existing situation. She articulated, “I said ‘we must have a World Championship for women and we have to be a participant in the Olympic Games’.” Her NFF colleagues determined that she should attend Fifa’s congress that year in Mexico City – coincidentally the same location as the unofficial 1971 global tournament – to deliver an address concerning women’s football. Wille stated, “They thought it would mean more if a woman did it and not a man.” She proceeded without hesitation. Nevertheless, by the morning of her scheduled address, she felt nervous. She recounted, “When I came to the place where it would happen, there were only men, apart from female translators.” Delivering a speech required raising a card and awaiting selection. Historically, no woman had ever addressed a Fifa congress. Wille, who stands 4ft 10in tall, was summoned to the platform, but her presentation began awkwardly as she was unable to reach the microphone due to her height. “So someone had to come and help me with it, and then I started to talk,” she explained. Some regard Ellen Wille as the ‘mother’ of Norwegian women’s football. The precise content of her speech is no longer available, as no transcript or recording exists. However, two of football’s most influential personalities, then-Fifa president Joao Havelange and general secretary Sepp Blatter, were among those present. Although Fifa lacks a copy of the speech, it did acquire minutes confirming Wille’s request to the general secretary to “draw more attention to women’s football, particularly in terms of refereeing and the form of international tournaments”. According to research from the organization, Fifa had previously discussed organizing a Women’s World Championship, but these plans had not materialized. Official Fifa reports from the 1986 congress indicate that Havelange replied to Wille, expressing his direct gratitude and informing the congress that Fifa was addressing the matter and progressing towards the inaugural world tournament for women, scheduled for 1988. Wille recounted that after Havelange finished speaking, attention shifted to his close associate, Blatter, who would later become Havelange’s successor as president, serving from 1998 to 2015. Wille remembers, “It became quiet and then Sepp Blatter took the stand and said I should have a world championship.” She added, “That was very nice to hear. I hoped for it, but I didn’t think it would [happen].” The significant impact of the speech was perhaps best demonstrated by the impression it left on Blatter. Wille stated, “I talked to him after [the speech] and I saw him years later.” “He invited me to Germany when the World Cup was in Germany. I got there and then he made a speech during a dinner for me,” she continued. “He said I had frightened him,” Wille revealed. Per Ravn Omdal was another Norwegian individual who had dedicated over ten years to the advancement of women’s football. Omdal, a former footballer who assumed the NFF presidency in 1987, considers Wille’s address and Blatter’s subsequent reaction at the congress to be crucial to the developments that followed. Omdal remarked, “They [Fifa] reacted extremely quickly and came back with a test World Cup in China [in 1988] which was very successful. I was there.” He added, “Then it started rolling until ’91 and we had the first [official tournament].” The invitational tournament in 1988 marked a pivotal moment for women’s football. Following extensive advocacy, Fifa began to support a World Cup. The 1986 congress is regarded as the impetus for this transformation. The inaugural tournament in 1991 was initially titled the “1st Fifa World Championship for Women’s Football for the M&Ms Cup,” though it was later retroactively designated as the World Cup. Matches in this competition were limited to 80 minutes. By the 1995 edition in Sweden, women’s matches were extended to the full 90 minutes. Norway, recognized as pioneers, claimed the trophy that year. Lise Klaveness, the head of Norwegian football, refers to Per Ravn Omdal (pictured) as a “legend” for his contributions to the development of women’s football. Approximately 36 years after Wille’s address, another Norwegian woman delivered a impactful speech at a Fifa congress. This individual was Lise Klaveness, the NFF’s first female president and a former Norway international player. Reminiscent of 1986, Klaveness spoke to a predominantly male assembly of influential football figures at the 2022 congress in Doha, held months before the Qatar World Cup. She urged them to increase their efforts, especially concerning equality. Her message was met with some disapproval from attendees. In an interview with the BBC’s World Service, Klaveness commented, “We have come a long, long way since Ellen took the stage in 1986, but we also have to be very realistic that nothing has come by itself for women’s football.” She continued, “It has always been someone that has to fight for you, but we’re still in it.” Klaveness further elaborated, “It’s still the case that most countries have never had female presidents, most countries have very few female representatives on their board, most countries struggle to get women in as coaches, and most countries struggle for their top league to have professional athletes so they can live from it.” She concluded, “It’s still a long way until we have a professional environment that reflects the power women’s football has.” Nevertheless, given that the 2023 Women’s World Cup drew nearly two million spectators and millions more television viewers, the progress achieved is undeniable. Wille minimizes the significance of her speech from decades past, describing it as “just a little step along the way” in the advancement of women’s football. Klaveness holds a differing perspective. “It’s not a women’s fight, it’s a humanity fight and it has been driven by Ellen, but also by guys like Per who has changed the lives of all of us,” Klaveness asserted.