“The Camp Nou record had a great global impact”

When Barça managed to fill the Camp Nou for the first time on March 30, breaking a world record for attendance at a women's football match, Alexia Putellas spoke of the importance of this feat in inspiring new generations, but the future promises of the Spanish football have not been the only ones who have been able to be inspired by a historic night like that.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
30 September 2022 Friday 02:34
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“The Camp Nou record had a great global impact”

When Barça managed to fill the Camp Nou for the first time on March 30, breaking a world record for attendance at a women's football match, Alexia Putellas spoke of the importance of this feat in inspiring new generations, but the future promises of the Spanish football have not been the only ones who have been able to be inspired by a historic night like that. "This match had a huge global impact and can serve to inspire others." These are the words of Arijana Demirovic (Bosnia, 1989), director of women's football development at FIFA who knows that scenarios like this can serve as a boost for other federations: "It allows them to see where they want to go and show it to their sponsors, knowing that it is possible because someone has already achieved it”, he explains to La Vanguardia.

Demirovic believes that "the Spanish example is very good", both in terms of the professionalization of the F League, and the work that has been done in the lower categories of the national team: "The recently won U-20 World Cup and the many successes in other ages are a great example that the work that has been done is excellent and Spain has to continue betting on it”.

The professionalization of the F League, the Camp Nou records... Women's football is growing by leaps and bounds, but not only in Spain. Worldwide, FIFA wants there to be 60 million players in 2026 and more and more clubs have taken the path of professionalization. "The players have more and more resources, but we see many differences between clubs: sponsors, television rights, independent clubs and others that are part of a larger structure... You have to be aware of all this and look for the best way to optimize your resources Demirovic recalls.

At the national team level, the record for associations appearing in the FIFA ranking has been broken (185) and also for nations that have participated in the qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup. “All these indicators tell us that there is a lot of growth, and not only at the absolute level. Many federations have created U-21 categories for the first time,” he adds. Whether to develop its youth categories, or to help them in the transition from amateurism to professionalism, FIFA's priority is "to offer each association the resources it needs for the objectives it has set for itself."

For the first time, next summer's World Cup will increase the participating teams from 24 to 32. To avoid big goals in the younger teams, FIFA accompanies these federations on the way to Australia and New Zealand: "We have to work together with these countries and make sure they are ready and that they have used this time to prepare", Demirov explains.

For the FIFA president, "the World Cups are a thermometer that allow us to measure the state of women's football." “The one in France in 2019 was very well received, it changed the way women's football was viewed, there were audience and attendance records. We saw that it was a good time to increase the number of participants and allow more countries to access the competition”, she explains.

It will not be the only big change in the next World Cup event. FIFA plans to double the economic prizes for the participants and has invested 1,000 million euros in this four-year cycle (2019-23): "The investment is growing at the same time as the game does, they evolve hand in hand", Demirovic assures.

In addition, at the end of 2019, a benefit program was implemented for clubs that loan players to their national teams: "Thus, clubs can continue to invest in growing the game, closing the circle that allows women's football to grow," concludes Demirovic. .