Women’s football, Women4Fottball conference: “Giant strides have been made”

It’s all in the title of the event. “Women 4 Football. Women’s football: from the field to science”. A cycle of interventions that made it possible to highlight aspects and perspectives of the movement in a varied way, starting from the problems in medical treatment which is still poorly calibrated on gender differences, up to analyzing the media, social and commercial development trends. “Athletes and coaches are the main stimulus for the development of the movement – observed the FIGC president Gabriele Gravina – on a federal level we have translated this with important legislative provisions to have the same rights and the same protections. The FIGC is the only one to have recognized professionalism but we have not diverted our attention in continuing to make the most of the organization and the quality of the product for fans. We dedicate professionalism and resources to growth, we are convinced that women’s football represents value and opportunities for national sport. The fan community is growing exponentially and we must be good at intercepting it to grow it further” explained Gravina, connected from Nyon because he is busy with UEFA. This was echoed by Umberto Calcagno, president of the Italian Footballers’ Association. “It is important to scientifically address this world and its growth prospects. The idea was born from the historical moment experienced by women’s football in Italy, we have made giant strides. Today we have established a professionalism that others also look to, creating the foundations for a leap in quality that we must make. We must focus on the development of this movement, it is a world that will consolidate even more with the commitment of all the institutions.”

critical issues

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Federica Cappelletti, as president of the women’s Serie A, has instead shifted the emphasis to some critical issues in the process of being resolved. “The moment of growth we are experiencing is important. The system does not yet have adequate revenues compared to costs. We have over 40 thousand members, an important number on a national level but which are still not very significant in international terms. However, we are at the beginning, professionalism has only recently occurred but the diffusion is constant and long-lasting. Attendance at the stadium and commercial income have increased, we will work to make the product even more attractive.” After speeches by French (Laura Georges, general secretary of the FFF) and English (Kelly Simmons, former FA director for the development of the women’s division) women’s football managers, Sara Gama, former player and now vice-president, also spoke of the Footballers’ Association. “The 2015 strike marks in some way the beginning of a journey, as well as the possibility of acquisition of the sporting title by professional clubs. In 2018 we came under federal aegis and this represents a peculiarity. Many things have changed, such as in the broadcasting of matches, in the institutional presence on social media, and sponsorship agreements. The advent of professionalism in 2022 puts us among the five countries in the world that have a collective agreement, often taken as a reference internationally. But we need to increase the number of members, because we are still too far behind the other federations. In any case, the increase in appeal of our football is also attracting players of international caliber who were not trained in Italy. On an economic level we are not yet economically sustainable but we are doing a good job.”