As part of its objective to accelerate the
professionalisation and development of women’s football, FIFA has published its
first-ever Guide to Club Licensing in Women’s Football
(https://fifa.fans/3rJRt8c).
Recognising the key role that clubs play in the development
of the women’s game and creating specific tools and programmes that support the
unique women’s football environment, the new Guide to Club Licensing in Women’s
Football will provide for the first-time ever a dedicated resource to enhance
club licensing in women’s football. This, in turn, will strengthen player
pathways for women and girls at club level and raise the overall standards in
clubs around the world.
As a comprehensive and practical tool that will support all
211 FIFA member associations in establishing and implementing a club licensing
framework for their respective women’s football competitions, the publication
comprises a ten-step guide that member associations can follow in order to set
up a club licensing system, as well as an additional eight steps that will
empower leagues to maintain their club licensing structures on a
season-by-season basis.
Sarai Bareman, FIFA’s Chief Women’s Football Officer, said:
“The development of strong and sustainable leagues where players are in a
competitive professional environment is a key area for the future development
and professionalisation of women’s football.”
“One of the most effective ways to empower clubs to raise
overall standards and performance pathways for female players is through club
licensing, thus helping them to achieve long-term, sustainable growth.
Alongside FIFA’s significant ongoing investment into existing club licensing
and FIFA development programmes, this new guide – which is a first of its kind
– is yet another important tool we are providing to our member associations to
help accelerate the growth of women’s football globally.”
Under the Women’s Development Programme banner, FIFA also
works one-on-one with member associations to establish club licensing
frameworks for women’s football, one of which is the Jordan Football
Association. Soleen Al-Zou’bi (Head of Women’s Football, Jordan FA) spoke about
the importance of club licensing for the women’s game.
“The Club Licensing programme was an excellent tool for
supporting elite women’s football in Jordan and raising the level of
competition,” said Ms. Al-Zou’bil.
“With FIFA’s assistance, we worked with the clubs to develop
the league and assist them in producing higher standards and better players.
And this was demonstrated when Amman Club was crowned AFC Women’s Club
Championship 2021 Champion.”
Enhancing the professionalisation of women’s football on and
off the pitch is a key objective of Goal 8, Accelerate the Growth of Women’s
Football, in FIFA’s Vision 2020-2023.
The guide complements Setting the Pace: FIFA Benchmarking
Report Women’s Football (https://fifa.fans/3Mt2SBf) and the FIFA’s Women’s
Development Programme (https://fifa.fans/38dXJhE) dedicated to club licensing,
which demonstrate FIFA’s commitment to raising the standards of women’s
football clubs and leagues.