FIFA is an international governing body that holds the responsibility for organizing the world's largest soccer (football) tournaments. The World Cup is the most watched sporting event in the world, and much money is at stake for all who are involved in the process. Countries that host this event stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars, and because it only occurs every four years, there is much competition to be a host country. This past year 14 FIFA officials were arrested under suspicion of accepting bribes during the bidding process for future World Cup destinations. Reformists are seizing the moment and see this as an opportunity for women. With only two of [FIFAs] 209 member association presidents being women, they only account for less than 1% of FIFAs voting population, and change is on the horizon.
This past week a letter has been written to FIFA demanding that at least, "30% of its leadership positions be filled by women." The letter is signed by athletes from six countries in 14 different sports, including recent World Cup champion Abby Wambach and Megan Rapinoe. "It's no secret that effectively run organizations, businesses, and entities around the world understand a critical component: women in a company, women on decision making boards, women at all levels bring positive dividends. And growth." said former US national soccer player Julie Foudy.
FIFA has an unique platform in which it can influence countries from all over the world. With this most recent corruption scandal, it is need of something to restore faith in its many fans. I believe that the increased implementation of women in leadership roles is the answer and will set the stage for immediate change. The impact FIFA has on the world is immense, and because of this it has the responsibility of setting the standard and acting as an example of how other organizations should run. This clear imbalance of leadership in gender is unacceptable and frankly way outdated, and until this is changed, FIFA will never be restored.
Being a soccer fan and having the World Cup being one of my favorite events to watch, this article was very interesting to me. I know when I started watching the World Cup many years ago; they didn't even have female referees. Over the years, that has obviously changed. I think that it is good that we are seeing more and more females even if it is slowly changing. It somewhat surprises me that there are not more female FIFA referees but I wonder if it might be for the reason that they do not want to handle all of that pressure. Being a referee in the World Cup is extremely intimidating and possibly the most pressure a person could endure, especially it if is the final game. If the referee is to make one wrong call there can be so crazy consequences from players and coaches, but mostly fans. For me personally, I would never want to referee a FIFA soccer game just because the stakes are so high. However I think that implementing women into a more powerful role within FIFA is a great choice. In my opinion, women have more of knowledge of the game than men do. I am not saying women are better than men at soccer but I do believe know the logistics a little bit better. Overall, I am excited to hear about these changes and see where FIFA decides to go from here!
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking about all sporting events, I am coming to realize that I don't recall seeing a female referee. My mind races to American Football, baseball, basketball, soccer, I can't personally put a face to any female official. I think FIFA is making a very positive stand for this motion in female equality in sports. This article made me question why there are not females present in the first place. Gender cannot possibly determine the knowledge of the sport. I also think it is interesting that this movement is coming up based off of a betting scandal. I also think there is an implication that females will be more honest in sport and I feel like that assumption is also gender discrimination. I believe that having female referees is positive to support gender equality through numbers in the work force, but to assume females will do a better job is assuming that one gender is yet again superior. I think having gender leadership by females in sport will bring positive aspects that do not degrade the males ability to do their job as well. I think this is a huge step forward in female presence in sports and look forward to the changes FIFA will be making for the world.
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