A big boost for women’s game
Fifa Council outlines plans for club C’ship
The first edition of the Women’s Club World Cup has been proposed to start during January-February 2026 and the 16-team tournament will be held every four years, world football governing body Fifa said yesterday.
A number of important decisions were taken at a Council meeting of Fifa in Bangkok.
Football Association of Thailand president Nualphan Lamsam joined the meeting, which was presided over by Fifa chief Gianni Infantino, and delivered a welcome speech.
Over 3,000 representatives from the 211 Fifa member countries and heads of the continental federations are in Bangkok for tomorrow’s Congress at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.
The Thai government hosted a reception for the visiting officials at the Government House yesterday evening.
Infantino had in May 2021 revealed Fifa’s plans to introduce the Women’s Club World Cup as part of a plan to “revolutionise” the female game.
The Women’s Club World Cup would likely allow top European teams from the Uefa Women’s Champions League to face clubs from the United States’ National Women’s Soccer League, as well as sides from countries where the women’s game is less developed.
Fifa also approved a new calendar with a focus on providing more opportunities for rest and recovery for players and coaches.
“The Women’s International Match Calendar and the subsequent amendments to our regulations represent an important milestone in our pledge to take the women’s game to the next level by enhancing competitiveness across the world,” Infantino said.
“This calendar is such a critical tool to ensure we continue to drive global professionalisation of women’s football,” said Fifa Chief Women’s Football Officer, Dame Sarai Bareman.
“In many parts of t he world, international football provides crucial top-flight playing opportunities for female players, and this is particularly the case in nations where domestic leagues are not yet fully professional.
“This calendar strikes a balance to enable the domestic and international games to grow side by side, while at the same time ensuring players will have more opportunities to rest, recover, and re-train between windows and following major tournaments.”
In addition, the Fifa Council formally appointed Mattias Grafstrom as the Fifa Secretary General.
“Football is my passion since I was born. I started playing it as a child and worked in football all my life at all different levels. There are therefore no words to express my feelings as I accept with pride and with a great sense of responsibility, the biggest challenge of my professional life,” Grafstrom said.