Football

Our Game, opens in a new tab, (accessed 4 August 2025). Football Australia's platform to leverage the unique opportunity presented by co-hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023™ to become Australia’s largest community sport, and to:
Reach 50/50 gender participation by 2027.
Increase female representation in key roles including leadership and coaching.
Create progressive pathways for the next generation of talent.
Have inclusive facilities to meet surging community demand.
Provide greater access for our CALD and all abilities communities.
Women's Football, opens in a new tab, Football Australia, (accessed 4 August 2025). Women make up 22% of the Australia’s participation base with players born in over 150 different nations and set to rise with Football Australia’s Gender Equality Action Plan which aims to have 50% gender participation split by 2027.
Gender Equality Action Plan 2019: Closing the gap and transforming men’s football and women’s football into football, opens in a new tab, Football Federation Australia, (October 2018). The ten-year plan focuses on five key areas including leadership, participation and facilities, the gender pay gap, the Westfield Matildas, and future Westfield Matildas (youth development pathways).
Women's Football Development Guide: A guide for community football clubs to develop women’s football and increase the number of females participating in the game at all levels, opens in a new tab, Football Federation Australia, (2017). This resource will provide community football clubs with practical strategies and ‘how to guides’ on the recruitment and continued involvement of female players, coaches, administrators and referees. We have also included a club checklist to encourage reflection and discussion of current club practices specifically aimed at females. We encourage you to identify key issues that relate to your club and identify strategies that might overcome participation barriers experienced by females.
#FootballHerWay: Football Victoria's Vision for Women and Girls Football, opens in a new tab, (September 2021). Football Victoria has set the target to reach 50/50 gender balance by 2027. This plan goes beyond participation. Football Victoria is striving to drive change among the football industry and ultimately develop women leaders at all levels in our game – players, coaches, referees and administrators.
GO Soccer Mums, opens in a new tab [VIC], (accessed 4 August 2025). Designed specifically for women, 'GO Soccer Mums' is all about having fun, meeting new people, and learning basic football skills in a social, judgement-free environment. It's not just for mums - but for all women, from all walks of life! It doesn't matter if you have never kicked a football before - absolutely no experience in necessary - anybody can take part!
Go Girls, opens in a new tab [VIC], (accessed 4 August 2025). A social, non-competitive football program for 12–16-year-old girls. Designed for girls to experience, learn and practice football in an inclusive, fun, all-girl environment.
FIFAIn place since 2018, the FIFA Women’s Football Strategy has been continuously monitored and remains dynamic to ensure it continues to deliver on the objectives set out by the overarching FIFA strategy, which is redefined ahead of each cycle.
Women's Football Strategy 2024-2027, opens in a new tab, FIFA, (2024).
FIFA Benchmarking Report Women's Football: Setting the Pace - 2024 Edition, opens in a new tab, FIFA, (March 2025). Throughout 2024, FIFA has been engaging hundreds of stakeholders from across the women’s game, with 86 leagues and 669 clubs used to comprehensively map the global landscape of women’s football. To deliver the most relevant insights, the benchmarking focuses exclusively on women’s football leagues and clubs. The analysis focuses on the performance of leagues and clubs in each tier and how each can learn from its peers and/or the tier above.On average, leagues that had three different winners over the past three seasons saw significantly higher broadcast revenue (USD 325k) and partners (2.8) compared to leagues with one winner (USD 251k and 1.3, respectively). 
Globally, 42% of referees per league were female, ranging from 57% in Tier 2 to 25% in Tier 3.
In terms of support for pregnant players in leagues, it primarily came in the form of maternity leave, albeit this was much less prevalent in Tier 3 (Tier 1: 64%, Tier 2: 64%, Tier 3: 22%). 
Globally, the average gross salary for players is around USD 10,900 p.a. and for Tier 1 clubs it is around USD 24,030 p.a., however, this is significantly skewed by a small number of clubs in Tier 1, where there are 16 clubs across seven countries that paid an average gross salary of over USD 50,000 p.a. per player.
Clubs which paid salaries of more than USD 5,000 p.a. were significantly more likely to provide non‑financial benefits, such as housing benefits or health insurance (with 95%+ of these clubs offering benefits).
The report highlights that The A-League in Australia provides an example of how strategic expansion can contribute to league growth. In 2023-2024, the league increased the number of teams from 11 to 12 and expanded the total matches from 104 to 139. The league also experienced positive trends, including a threefold increase in its outbound
transfer record fee for an ALW player. This case demonstrates that a measured approach to expansion could strengthen a league’s overall standing and player profile.
Multiple Job-Holding in Elite Women's Football, opens in a new tab, FIFA, FIFPRO, Edith Cowen University, (2024). This report details how most top-flight women players are unable to earn enough through football to fully sustain their livelihoods.
FIFA Female Health Project Snapshot, opens in a new tab, FIFA, (2023). This snapshot showcases the key differences between female and male athletes and allows us to better understand what we already know and what we still need to investigate when it comes to female athletes to improve the training and playing environments in which girls and women participate.
FIFA and UN Women sign first-ever memorandum of understanding, opens in a new tab, FIFA media, (7 June 2019). The three key joint areas of work in the MoU are sports policy development, the promotion and support of sustainable projects that will help create a lasting legacy, cultural change and empowerment of women and girls around the world, and communications to raise awareness around gender equality through sport, for example through the support of the FIFA Legends and UN Women Goodwill Ambassadors, as well as major tournaments.
Other international reports2023/24 Women's Player Workload Monitoring Report, opens in a new tab, FIFPRO, (2024). The growth of women’s football competitions is bringing increased recognition and professionalisation in parts of the world, but piling excessive pressure on some players, and failing to address wider issues like uneven games and underload.
Postpartum Return to Play Guide, opens in a new tab, FIFPRO, (2024). A 48-page guide to help professional footballers, as well as their families, team staff and other football stakeholders, better understand and manage pregnancy and the phase after childbirth.
New Maternity Protections for Professional Women’s Players, opens in a new tab, FIFPRO, (2024). This report aims to analyse the maternity protections introduced in FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfers of Players (RSTP) for professional women’s players, which came into force on 1 June 2024.
FIFPRO Asia/Oceania: Lessons from the AFC Women's Club Championship, opens in a new tab, (FIFPRO, (2024). The report from FIFPRO Asia/Oceania gathers insights from 88 players who competed in last season’s invitational tournament.
2020 Raising Our Game Report, opens in a new tab, FIFPRO, (2020). Provides an overview of the global women’s football industry, placing the rights and conditions of players at the centre. The report builds on the 2017 FIFPRO Women’s Global Employment Report and takes account of the most recent industry developments affecting the working environment of professional footballers worldwide. This report gives the players' perspective along with key stakeholders on the most recent growth patterns and trends, best practices, policies and regulations relevant to the sustainability of the professional football industry.
Reaching Higher: The FA strategy for women's and girls' football - 2024-2028, opens in a new tab, The FA, (2024). The 2020-2024 strategy 'Inspiring Positive Change' coincided with record growth across the sport, with more women and girls playing, coaching, officiating and supporting the flourishing professional game than ever before. The new strategy 'Reaching Higher' aims to build on the success achieved to date and to continue working to unlock the full potential of the women’s and girls’ game.
UEFA Women's Football Strategy 2024-2030, opens in a new tab, UEFA, (2024). In late 2024, UEFA launched 'Unstoppable', a six-year strategy for driving the women’s game to ever greater heights. Goals include making women’s football the most played team sport among women and girls in every European country and increasing the number of fully professional leagues. It builds on the foundations laid by 'Time For Action', UEFA's first-ever women's football strategy, which was launched in 2019.