Farrer & Co Women in Sport - Report - Page 30
40:40:20
FIFA’s vision for
balanced boards
As it stands, there are inequalities in
participation, leadership and recognition
of women in football.
Words by Paloma Livesey
FIFA admits in its report, FIFA 2.0: The
Vision for the Future, that “Football’s
30 million female players deserve more
from FIFA, which will work diligently to
further develop women’s football with
the same tenacity it has applied to its
other efforts to grow the game.”
To address this concern, the
implementation of the 40:40:20
Policy has been strongly encouraged
to facilitate long term cultural change
throughout the industry. This means
that a minimum of 40% women and
40% men should be present on all
boards, with the remaining 20%
being discretionary.
In Australia women are
underrepresented in all areas of football
from grassroots club committees to the
Football Federation Australia (FFA) board.
Football has been viewed as a male
dominated sport with 21% of players
being female and only 24% of Board
members being women. The introduction
of the 40:40:20 Policy by the Sports
Ministry in Australia serves as a national
campaign and initiative with the intention
of receiving support from sports
governing bodies around the world.
The FFA has gone one step further by
increasing investment in development
officers at Member Federations and
will be rolling out training to address
gender bias.
30
In Australia, women are
underrepresented in
all areas of football,
from grassroots club
committees to the
FFA board.
The FFA has also sought guidance
from the Australian Security Exchange
(ASX) Corporate Governance Principles/
Recommendations and Marshall
Government Initiative which reminds
sporting organisations of their
commitments to the 40:40:20 Policy.
The ASX Principles highlight the
importance of ASX200 companies
setting targets to increase the number
of women on their Boards and at senior
executive level.
The Marshall Government Initiative
also reminds sporting organisations that,
of the 27 organisations engaged in the
40:40:20 Policy, 16 (59%) have already
met this requirement. The Policy ensures
that there is a pathway for both men and
women to reinforce an inclusive culture
amongst state sporting boards, with the
Liberal State Government now urging all
73 sporting organisations who receive
taxpayer funding to meet the 40:40:20
Policy by July 2021.
In the UK, FIFA has responded to the
need to address gender bias in football
by implementing its own Women in
Football Leadership Scheme and Coach
Mentorship Programme. More recently,
FIFA has introduced its own Women’s
Football Strategy which focuses on five
core values, ranging from “Develop and
Grow” to “Educate and Empower”. All
five values work in tandem to “grow the
game of football, protect its integrity
and bring the game to all”, charting
the course for how FIFA will work with
confederations and other stakeholders
to confront and surmount the challenges
in football.
The implementation of various
articles within the FIFA Statutes such as
Articles 2(f) and 15(k), addresses FIFA’s
overall objectives and ongoing work with
member associations to increase female
representation in football, setting a good
example to illustrate what other sports
bodies should be doing to respond to
the 40:40:20 Policy.
Paloma Livesey
Paralegal,
Farrer & Co
Women in Sport – Levelling the playing field
