Uefa plans to boost women's game with £830m investment
England's women won the European Championship in 2022 and finished runners-up at the 2023 World Cup
- Published
Uefa has promised to commit 1bn euros (£830m) to women's football over the next six years in a bid to make it the most played team sport by women in Europe.
The European governing body will use money from "competition revenues and Uefa investment" to distribute to national team competitions, club competitions and national associations.
Uefa wants to make Europe "the home of the world's top players" with six fully professional leagues and 5,000 fully professional players across the continent.
"European women's football has never been in a better place," Nadine Kessler, Uefa managing director of women's football, said.
"It has become a sport for the masses, attracting an ever-growing and diverse fan base, and partners that wholeheartedly contribute to its growth."
The new six-year strategy, called 'Unstoppable', has been announced as women's football becomes more financially powerful.
In June, analysts reported that the Women's Super League had generated record revenue in the 2022-23 season.
The 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which was won by Spain, generated revenue of £440m.
“We cannot just focus on the countries that are already advanced in their development," Kessler told the BBC World Service earlier this month.
"This strategy will bring much more tailor-made support for those countries that need special help."
As part of the investment, Uefa plans to introduce a second women's European club competition to sit beneath the Champions League.
The competition would be a straight knockout format, with teams competing against clubs knocked out in the early rounds of the Champions League.
Euro 2025, organised by Uefa, will be staged in Switzerland.
The FA's latest four-year strategy
The Football Association has also released its four-year strategy on women and girls' football, with a key focus on safeguarding and investment.
As well as improving equal opportunities and encouraging diversity, the FA wants to win another major tournament at international level.
It pledges to have regular fixtures against world-class opponents, as well as improving talent identification.
It insists the priority throughout the strategy is to provide safe environments for all female footballers, in the wake of player-coach relationships in the WSL.
More leadership courses, better education and governance of safeguarding is part of achieving that.
The FA also says protecting the "uniqueness" of the women's game is a priority and it hopes to secure "significant funding and investment" which is specifically catered to women's football.