FIFA mandates female coaches and bench staff across women’s competitions

FIFA has approved new regulations that will oblige every team competing in its women’s tournaments to appoint at least one female head coach or assistant coach, part of a broader strategy to increase women’s representation in senior technical roles.The rules, approved by the FIFA Council, will apply across FIFA women’s competitions from youth to senior level, starting with this year’s U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cups and the Women’s Champions Cup.FIFA intends the requirement to cover its flagship event as well, with the regulations set to apply at the Women’s World Cup in Brazil next year.Jill Ellis, FIFA’s Chief Football Officer, said: “There are simply not enough women in coaching today. We must do more to accelerate change by creating clearer pathways, expanding opportunities, and increasing the visibility for women on our sidelines.“The new FIFA regulations, combined with targeted development programmes, mark an important investment in both the current and future generation of female coaches.”Alongside the coaching requirement, FIFA’s regulations stipulate that each team must have two female staff members on the bench during matches, widening the policy beyond the head coach role and into day-to-day tournament operations.The move is designed to tackle a persistent imbalance at the top end of the women’s game, where elite roles have not kept pace with growth in investment, professionalisation and audience reach.FIFA has pointed to its recent tournament data as evidence of the gap, with 12 of the 32 head coaches at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia being women.That number reduced sharply as the tournament progressed, with England’s Sarina Wiegman the only female head coach left by the round of 16, before guiding the Lionesses to the final.Beyond tournament coaching, FIFA has also cited structural indicators across the wider coaching workforce.A FIFA survey of member associations in 2023 reported that an average of 5% of coaches across associations were women, across both men’s and women’s teams.A separate FIFA benchmarking report published in 2024, covering 86 women’s leagues globally, found 22% of head coaches were female.FIFA has positioned the regulations as one component of a longer-term plan to ensure leadership and technical representation develops in step with commercial and sporting growth, rather than as a short-term fix.The governing body has increased support in recent years through development initiatives and funding mechanisms aimed at improving access to qualifications.That has included scholarship support for women in the Women’s Super League 1 and 2 to obtain UEFA Pro or A coaching licences, as part of a push to expand the pool of candidates for senior jobs.The policy also has practical implications for national associations and clubs entering FIFA competitions, requiring more deliberate succession planning and clearer pathways into assistant roles that can progress to head coach appointments.