The organization’s council has approved the landmark regulation to increase the female coach representation at its highest level.
On Friday, March 20 (Manila time), the FIFA Council announced that it has greenlit the regulations, which it told will “reshape the future of women’s football.”
As per its new rules, they are now mandating female representation in team leadership across all its women’s competitions from this year onward.
Each team that will participate in FIFA women’s competitions must now ensure their head coach and/or at least one of the assistant coaches be female.
On top of that, at least one of the medical staff must be female, and that at least two officials seated on the team bench must also be female.
“This applies to all youth and senior tournaments, national team competitions, and club competitions,” they added.
The measure was approved at the FIFA Council meeting on Thursday, 19 March, and will be implemented starting with the upcoming FIFA Under 20 Women’s World Cup in Poland this September, which will be followed by the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup that are both scheduled for this year.
“Significantly, it also includes the biggest women’s sporting event on the planet, the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ set to be held in Brazil in 2027,” added the football organization.
According to FIFA’s Chief Football Officer Jill Ellis, they decided to implement this rule as “[t]here are simply not enough women in coaching today.”
“We must do more to accelerate change by creating clearer pathways, expanding opportunities, and increasing the visibility for women on our sidelines,” added Ellis.
Further, “The new FIFA regulations, combined with targeted development programmes, mark an important investment in both the current and future generation of female coaches.”
As per FIFA, the initiative is part of its broader strategy to “ensure that the rapid growth of the women’s game is matched by an increased representation of women in technical and leadership roles.“
Despite the significant expansion of the women’s game globally, FIFA noted, coaching positions remain predominantly occupied by men—with statistics from the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 seeing only 12 of the 32 head coaches being female.
“The approved regulations are part of FIFA’s long-term strategy, which combines statutory advances with sustained investment in coach education and professional development, to prepare women for such leading positions,” it added.
Meanwhile, as part of its global Women’s Football Strategy, FIFA provides its member associations around the world with “a comprehensive range of programmes and funding opportunities” to help grow the number of female coaches.
Since 2021, FIFA has supported 795 female coaches across 73 member associations through its coach education scholarship programme, enabling them to access advanced qualifications and professional opportunities.
