FIFA is tightening its push for gender balance in football leadership, introducing new rules that will require every women’s team to include female coaches on their technical staff.
The FIFA has announced that all teams competing in its women’s tournaments must now include at least one female head or assistant coach, in a major move aimed at increasing female representation in the dugout.
The new directive, approved by the FIFA Council, will apply to competitions such as the U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cups as well as the Women’s Champions Cup.
Under the policy, teams must also have at least two female staff members on the bench during matches, making it a compulsory requirement across all FIFA women’s competitions.
FIFA Chief Football Officer Jill Ellis said the decision was necessary to address the shortage of women in coaching roles and to speed up progress in the game.
She noted that only 12 of 32 head coaches at the 2023 Women’s World Cup were women, adding that representation figures still lag behind the rapid growth of women’s football globally.
Ellis also highlighted that women currently make up just a small percentage of coaches worldwide, despite increasing participation in the sport, stressing the need for stronger development pathways and visibility.
The new rules form part of FIFA’s broader strategy to grow women’s football and ensure leadership opportunities expand alongside the game itself, supported by coaching scholarships and professional licensing programmes.
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