As the FIFA drama and headlines keep piling up, one thing remains certain ... oh, who am I kidding? Nothing is certain at FIFA. One thing remains probable: FIFA will have a new president on Feb. 26, 2016. In the meantime, reform is in the air (sung to "Love Is In The Air," but with less enthusiasm). FIFA announced on Aug. 11 that Francois Carrard is the independent chairman of the 15-person FIFA Reform Committee.
Thursday, the committee, tasked with developing proposals to change how football's governing body is run, is set to present to FIFA's Executive Committee for the first time on its progress. As such, I think this is as good a time as ever to write FIFA a letter to remind it of a few things.
Dear Dr. Carrard and FIFA,
Given all that is happening right now, it seems the perfect time to review your very own FIFA mission statement, from your very own FIFA website:
Our mission: Developing football everywhere and for all. FIFA's primary objective is to improve the game of football constantly and promote it globally in the light of its unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values, particularly through youth and development programmes.
"Everywhere and for all." Hmmm. Let's also review the 2014 FIFA survey on the state of the women's game with your member associations. Your very own survey found that:
* 23 percent of member associations have dedicated staff for women's football.
* 80 percent of member associations have a women's senior team and only 50 percent have girls' youth teams.
Those numbers surely cannot make you proud. Not even a quarter of the member associations have staff dedicated to the women's game. The study found that of those 23 percent with dedicated staff for women's football, there is an average of 6.7 employees per member association. Half of those are regarded as part-time employees (and, gosh, would I love to see how these federations average 6.7 employees).
Only 50 percent of member groups have girls' youth teams. And of those 50 percent, just how active are those teams? Do you even know? Do you know what member associations are doing with their development programs for girls? Do you really know how much or little they are spending on them? How transparent are these member associations? Eighty percent of them have a senior team, but how active is that team? A senior team that plays once every four years in hopes of qualifying for a World Cup? Again, do you know?
Here is what I know. I know the struggle to play persists for most girls globally. At the U.S. women's national team's recent game against Haiti in Detroit, I interviewed Haitian players and heard their stories of struggle and acceptance within the sport. They spoke of a culture in which parents questioned "why precious field space should be wasted on girls." Until they saw girls play. Mindsets will change when you show them the benefits of letting girls play. I've spoken to Australian women's players struggling to just pay their rent. For the past two months the players have been unpaid and just ask for what is fair, getting paid enough to make ends meet on a consistent basis.
The stories are not new ones. These are the same storylines from 20 years ago, when the national team I played for fought for acceptance. The U.S. Soccer Federation decided to invest in women's football, and we've seen the return on that investment. But there are too few federations willing to do the same, too few that will give a young girl the chance to pursue a dream, even though FIFA's mission statement says "particularly through youth and development programmes."
When I look at the immense programming for boys and men around the world and then read the FIFA study showing the "median number of registered female players per member association = 960 players" -- yes, a mere 960 per country, it's abundantly clear that your mission to provide football everywhere and for all really means "everywhere and for men."
I am done kindly asking you to stop forgetting the other half of the population. I am done asking you to please be aware of a lack of development for girls in most countries around the world. I am done being told to be quiet because there is no market in women's football. Of course there is not. FIFA has not invested in their game. You have to build the players to build the market.
You preach on your website, "As football's world governing body, FIFA is firmly committed to the principles of good governance, transparency and zero tolerance towards any wrongdoing," yet actions never match the rhetoric at FIFA. Dr. Carrard, if FIFA's mission is about improving, growing and promoting the game, then how are the above numbers acceptable? Your next pillar of reform must recognize the girls and young women who simply want a chance to play. Live the mission FIFA intended, and make these member associations accountable. Make them transparent with their spending on women. Make them show you what programming they are offering their girls' and women's teams. Make them hire people within the federation who wake up every single day thinking about how they can advance the women's game in their country. There are plenty of passionate and smart people eager to take on this very task. Bring them into the fold. Be the guardians of the game you profess to be.
Developing football everywhere. For all. Five words that should mean so much. Five words that seem so promising, yet promise so little.
If now is truly the time for change, then #dontforgetthewomen. Girls everywhere will thank you. Men will thank you. And most important, communities around the world will thank you as they build happier, healthier, stronger women who positively contribute to society for generations to come.
As the mother of an 8-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old boy who both love their right to play, I look forward to joining you in growing the game indeed everywhere and for all.
Sincerely,
Julie Foudy
