Title:

The Importance of Girls Sports and Womens Parity in FIFA

Author:

Jennifer Matt

Desired Publish Date:

Monday, June 22, 2015

According to the Guardian, FIFA (the global governing body for mens and womens soccer) practices
gender discrimination extreme enough to violate the law in almost every country where FIFA
tournaments are played. We need a path to parity for women within FIFA, and hoping FIFA will do the
right thing is not a strategy. Hope is only a solid strategy if you need the worlds best goal keeper
(USAs Hope Solo). We as consumers can and should play a significant role in this important global
change for womens sports. Lend your support for womens parity in FIFA by joining Millions of
Consumers for Womens Parity in FIFA on Facebook and spreading the word.
FIFA, the Fdration Internationale de Football Association, has been in the news a lot of late, and not
in a good way. Currently FIFA is under investigation for wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
FIFAs long time president Sepp Blatter just stepped down and lawyered up. FIFA is being redefined as
you read this article, and womens parity is not on the table (yet). This is a critical juncture and the
right time to start a serious path to parity in FIFA for the womens game. FIFA needs the equivalent of a
global Title IX now.
Today 30 million girls play organized soccer around the world. An estimated 48% of all soccer players in
the U.S. are girls. FIFA was founded in 1904 (111 years ago); there have been 20 mens world cup
tournaments. The first Womens World Cup was played in 1991 (just 24 years ago); this month Canada
is hosting the 7th Womens World Cup tournament. In the entire history of FIFA, there has been
exactly one woman elected to a full term on the executive committee. Lydia Nsekera of Burundi was
elected in 2013 (2 years ago), with her initial role stated as representative of womens football that
was then literally crossed out and replaced by female member of the executive committee.
Why Girls Should Be Encouraged to Play Sports: Building a Strong Future for All
When girls play sports, they are provided a safe laboratory in which to learn critical life skills and a
chance to be embodied without being sexualized. Sports activities create space at a very young age
to learn how to perform under pressure, understand your role on a team, react to shifting conditions,

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June 22, 2015

participate in a coaching relationship, and learn the importance of practice and preparation.
Widespread participation in sports delivers competent women leaders and contributors to our
countries, companies, and communities. Making sports available to all girls is one of the best
investments we can make to prepare for an uncertain future that absolutely will require competent
and diverse leadership.
At last weeks FIFA Womens World Cup USA vs. Nigeria game in Vancouver, Canada, I was ecstatic to
be in the stands with 53,000 other womens soccer fans (which matched the average attendance for
the mens World Cup games in Brazil last year), with another 5 million watching on TV. When I played
high school soccer in Omaha NE (1982-1986), womens soccer was not yet an officially sanctioned state
sport. The largest crowd I ever played in front of was probably about 27 all of whom were related to
the girls on the field. We have come so far, and have the potential to go so much further!
Participating in sports gave me skills that I use every day to successfully compete as an entrepreneur in
the global economy. Elite athletes (the top 1%) get the most attention, but all participants in sports
have the opportunity to learn relevant life skills in a safe environment. I learned the importance of
fundamentals from my grade school basketball coach; make most of your layups and free throws, and
youll win almost every grade school basketball game. Today, I translate these into the fundamentals
for business (be on time, call people back, meet your commitments, keep your word) and they guide
my daily decisions in running my business. I learned strategy from my high school basketball coach,
how to scope out the competition, expose their weaknesses, and leverage your strengths. When I
competed for my first large government contract, it was me against a Fortune 500 company with
dozens of seasoned professionals working on the bid. I understood how to scope out their weaknesses
and leverage my strengths, and I won the contract.
Join Us to Drive Change at FIFA
Are you familiar with crowdsourcing? It is the process of reaching your objectives by soliciting
contributions from a large group of people. Im suggesting a slightly different variation which I call
consumer sourcing of power. Follow the money to the source, and you will find that each and every
one of you reading this article has the ability to impact the entire FIFA ecosystem when we act

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June 22, 2015

together as millions of consumers (men and women). When we stand alone, we are weak. When we
stand together we are unstoppable. The organizational chart looks something like this:
Yes, we are two levels above Sepp Blatter in the hierarchy, and
we should start acting like it. This means we can stop all the
silliness of I hope FIFA is listening and we are at FIFAs
mercy. This is simply not true, and we owe it to every girl on
the planet to show them how to exercise their power in a
united front.
We have the ability to bring parity for women in FIFA to the
table as FIFA is being redefined. As Sheryl Sandberg so
elegantly communicated in her book Lean In, its time for us to
take our rightful seat at the table stop waiting for an
invitation, it will never come. The professional women players, coaches, and leaders need our help;
consumers have to make their demands clearly known for a real path to parity for women in FIFA.
Women make more than 80% of consumer purchasing decisions. If you watch TV, use a Visa credit
card, drink Coke, or wear Nike gear (among many other corporate sponsors), you qualify as a
member of the group at the top of the hierarchy that makes this whole system work. We have to act
together, and social media gives us the platform to stop talking about the problem and start creating
the solution. Thats what people in charge do, they solve problems.
When organizations are diverse, they are less corrupt. Organizations that include women perform
better under difficult situations. Germany now has a law on the books that requires 30% of supervisory
seats on corporate boards to be women. We need to create a path to parity that gets us to at least 30%
representation for women throughout all levels of FIFA. When there is parity in the leadership, we can
be part of managing a more just global sport, which will be good for girls playing soccer, good for
corporate sponsors and TV networks who count on us as consumers, and good for FIFA. As the
womens game continues to grow in popularity, it only means more positive results for FIFA.
Join Now: Millions of Consumers for Womens Parity in FIFA

By Jennifer Matt

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June 22, 2015