FIFA have added a new initiative to an already extensive suite of development programmes as part of its mission to invest and develop women’s football globally. FIFA President Gianni Infantino previously said the success of the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ had “opened the eyes of the world,” and now – two years out from Brazil 2027 – world football’s governing body is focussed on maintaining that momentum. The inaugural edition of the FIFA Female Coach Educators’ Development Pathway – Technical Experts’ Workshop took place from 23 to 27 June. It was hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation in Lisbon and delivered by FIFA Coaching Development and Women’s Football Development departments. The overall objective of the FIFA Female Coach Educators’ Development Pathway is to help FIFA’s Member Associations (MAs) increase the number of female coach educators, which will ultimately increase the number of female coaches in the game. “FIFA is proud to build coach educator pathways that are both effective and equitable,” said Dame Sarai Bareman, FIFA Chief Women’s Football Officer. “The future of our sport depends on who we empower today – and that future must include women at all levels of the game – on and off the pitch. “At the heart of this vision is the need to increase the number of female coaches – and, just as importantly, female coach educators.”

The event was hosted at the Cidade do Futebol national team centre, which was partly funded with help from the FIFA Forward Programme. Twenty-three technical experts were in attendance with all six confederations represented. The experts were selected based on their extensive experience in women’s football and coach education. With a focus on ‘train the trainer’, there were a wide variety of theoretical and practical activities, all geared to equip participants with the essentials for the further development of Female Coach Educators.

Among the participants was pioneering former France head coach Corinne Diacre, who was the first woman to take charge of a French men's professional football team (Clermont Foot 63), before leading Les Bleues for six years – a period that included a run to the FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019™ quarter-finals on home soil. “I have tears in my eyes when I talk about it. It (the course) is honestly a very, very beautiful experience,” said the former international defender, reflecting on the programme. “The content is very clear, very precise. [It provided] a lot of knowledge, (and) a lot of confidence as well. And then the group of women coaches who are gathered, there is a lot of kindness, a lot of empathy and sympathy as well.

“What would be good is that tomorrow, precisely thanks to this FIFA programme, young coaches can identify with another coach, and when I say a coach, I mean a female coach,” she added. “Some female coaches can inspire others. I had 90% male role models and maybe 10% female role models. It would be good to rebalance that a little bit. “In order to encourage more women to become coaches, I think this FIFA programme is a first step. Indeed, we want to increase the number of coaches, we want to increase the quality of these coaches.”

The week in Lisbon was especially poignant for Brazilian coach Débora Ferreira. Tuesday 24 June marked exactly two years until the greatest show in women’s football kicks-off in Brazil for the very first time. The São Paulo native believes the tournament will be a unique opportunity to change perceptions in Brazil, and indeed South America. “The benefits of this kind of programme and the impact of the tournament are that women will see in a concrete way, and see first-hand, that there is a path. And in front of this path that she wants to walk, there is someone, a woman already there ready to give her hand and say, ‘let's walk this path together’,” stated Ferreira, who was the first woman in Brazil to earn a Pro Licence. “The tournament can certainly generate many more opportunities for women, because they will feel, in addition to feeling capable of being there, there is a now a structure that gives them a basis to compete in this space. “Maybe many women just don't see that this space exists. I believe that something like what FIFA is promoting is a way of saying, ‘look, there is a path for you to follow’. “The opportunity is here and now you can choose. Before, I didn't see it as an option.” The FIFA Female Coach Educators' Development Pathway will further enhance the support to MAs, complementing the 13 FIFA Women’s Development programmes, and will expand globally later in 2025 with regional workshops to be held.