A billion euros for women’s European football
The European Football Union (UEFA) has announced that it will invest one billion euros over the next six years for the development of women’s football in Europe at all levels.
UEFA’s aim is for football to become “the most popular team sport for women and girls in every country in Europe”, to double the number of fully professional national leagues and to increase the number of professional female players from 3,000 to 5,000.
“We promise to continue to invest and collectively lead the game forward, and that all European national associations, leagues, clubs, players, fans and partners will be part of our journey,” said UEFA Women’s Football Director Nadine Kessler.
The plan consists of creating a pathway for women and girls to play, coach and referee from the youngest ages.
UEFA’s previous strategy for women’s football in 2019 aimed to increase the total number of registered players to 2,900,000, and the latest report says that there were 1,600,000 last year.
Kessler said there are “constant challenges and obstacles to overcome,” including the fact that many female players struggle to earn a living wage from soccer.
The total income that the clubs receive in the Women’s Champions League this season is 24 million euros, of which 22 million euros are subsidies from the men’s edition of the competition.
The 2022 European Women’s Championship final was watched by 50 million people, while last year’s Women’s Champions League final had five million viewers.
The announced payments to 55 members of the UEFA Hat Trick programme, funded by the European Men’s Championship, are part of this investment by UEFA. Those payments will send a total of 66 million euros to members in the period from 2024 to 2028 for the development of women’s football.
Source: Beta
Photo: Pixabay
Source: bizlife.rs
