Women's football is on the rise?
With the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup looming, in this article we take a look at how women's football is viewed worldwide and the growth of the sport.
In recent years there has been an increase and arguably unexpected rise in women's football worldwide. Participation has increased, new competitions are emerging and also viewing figures continue to increase yearly.
This success has been largely due to FIFA and UEFA, as they have created multiple programs which aim to make women's football more competitive, appealing and sustainable.
In October 2018, FIFA announced that they would double the prize money available to $30 million. This will be split between the 24 teams taking part at the FIFA Women's World Cup in France and would grant clubs financial rewards for the participation of their players in the competition for the first time.
However, many have criticised FIFA's funding decision as it is viewed as undermining their statutory commitment to equality. This argument is largely due to the fact that the men's World Cup overall prize money is $400 million which highlights the financial gender gap of $370 million.
Furthermore, the winner of the men’s tournament in 2018 received $38 million, whereas the winning nation of next year’s women’s competition will earn just $4 million.
It is evident that women's football has progressed over the years, however, it is clear that there is still a major gender gap.
FIFA published a report dated 9 October 2018 and entitled ''Women's Football Strategy''. The report focused on multiple strategies to help stimulate the growth of women's football. In the report FIFA expressed it's intention of working with stakeholders across the board to adopt concrete measures for women and girls and to ensure that football becomes a sport open to all, without any gender discrimination.
In 2017 UEFA published a report called ''Women’s football across the national associations''. The statistics highlighted how women's football has had a positive impact on the younger female generation. For example, the number of youth leagues across Europe, with age ranges from 6 to 23, has increased drastically. In 2012 there were 164 youth leagues and by 2017 this increased to 266.
Football is arguably the most popular sport in the world and taking part in the sport can be beneficial for your health. Listed below are 5 health benefits your children can gain from playing football.
- Increases stamina
- Lowers body fat and improves muscle tone
- Builds strength, flexibility and endurance
- Increases muscle and bone strength
- Improves health due to shifts between walking, running and sprinting
Purchase ActiKid Magic Beans Multi-Vitamin and enrich your children with the necessary vitamins to ensure they last the whole 90 minutes.
This article contains general information regarding health and well-being. This information is not intended as advice, and should not be treated as such. You must not rely on the information on this website as an alternative to advice from medical or educational professionals.
