FIFA President, Gianni Infantino has asked stakeholders to invest in the women’s game and sees it as the future of football.
During Infantino’s reign, the Women’s World Cup has been expanded to 32 teams and oversaw the FIFA Women’s World Cup prize money boosted from $30m in 2019 to $110m in 2023.
At the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Extraordinary Congress, President Infantino made his appeal for women’s football development.
“We’ve been discussing as well about the (FIFA) Women’s World Cup, the next one in 2027. My appeal, again, to all of you is: invest in the women’s game. It is definitely the future. We’ve seen it, we continue to see it,” he said.
“I want every country in the world to have a women’s league, to have a women’s national team. It is really, really fundamental because women represent 50% of the world population, also in Asia and all corners of the world and we need to foster women’s football development,” he added.
The next edition of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup starts in 2026. It will serve as qualification for Asian teams to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.