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Centre of Social Justice in Sport and Society
Six of the 55 football associations in Europe have no women committee members and of the 7,119 staff employed across the associations, only 5.6% are women in managerial positions (UEFA 2017). The lack of women in leadership positions in football has been addressed in UEFA’s recently launched dedicated women’s football strategy.
It commits UEFA to a five-year strategic framework with the aim of supporting, guiding and lifting both women’s football and the position of women in football across Europe by 2024 (UEFA 2019).
A common approach adopted within sport to increase the number of women board members have included the creation of target / quotas and formation of women’s groups and / or committees. There are five specific goals in UEFA’s Women’s Football Strategy, four relating directly to women playing football and one to women in football: Double female representation on all UEFA bodies (UEFA 2019). Of the 55 national associations, 41 include a Women’s Committee (UEFA 2019). However these committees may not necessarily create an opportunity for women to engage in decision-making in football. Data from the 2019 report does not specify membership of the Women’s Committees but the 2017 report on Women’s football across the national associations 2016/17 highlighted 44 national associations had Women’s Committees and four of these had no women members. In short women are currently underrepresented in decision-making positions in football in Europe.
It is not only women that need to be concerned with gender balance in leadership positions but men too. Indeed, in the context of this research, we considered that gender is a relational concept. With this thinking, coupled with the understanding that the overwhelming majority of decision-making positions in football in Europe are held by men, we argue that the engagement of men is crucial to drive gender-equal developments in football governance. However, because gender equity has long been thought of as a ‘women’s issue’ and indeed, that women have largely driven this agenda in sport, the experiences and role of men as potential advocates, have been ignored.
the approach
For this study a qualitative methodological approach was taken in order to answer the research question ‘what role can men play in facilitating gender equity in football governance?’. The aims of the research were to examine the ways that men have contributed to improvements towards gender equity; how women experienced those changes; and to offer recommendations to promote gender equity. Data were collected via interviews with men and women in decision-making positions across 7 European Football Associations, including: England, The Netherlands, Sweden, Croatia, Slovenia, Norway, and Russia.
the impact
The research study, completed in 2020, will inform the highest levels of European football approaches towards challenging the absence of women from national football executive committees and decision-making roles. The research team have shared their recommendations with UEFA around taking a more national and local level approach to gender equity in order to contextualise gender equity and thus, increase the efficacy of UEFA’s interventions. These recommendations will feed into UEFA strategic objectives and priorities towards supporting women IN football.
Male allies for gender equality were identified as game changers in leadership roles in football. Their individual actions did make a difference within their organizations. However, for men to play a greater role in advocating for, and advancing gender equity, they must value women IN the sport and the organisation. Men must understand women’s worth and contribution in equal terms. To do this, we must engage men in gender equity initiatives and create a sense of ownership of this agenda. Most diversity and inclusion initiatives fail because they include an element of control. Rather, we need to engage men in the practice, such as asking them to be active in the process of recruiting and nurturing women leaders. It is up to the leadership levels of football, such as UEFA and presidents of national associations, to drive this agenda to win hearts and minds, rather than solely instructing football associations to promote women in football.
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