{"id":43076,"date":"2017-08-02T10:05:44","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T08:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cruyffalumni.org\/johancruyffinstitute-2026\/johan-cruyff-institute-with-womens-football-at-the-world-football-summit\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T20:21:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T18:21:30","slug":"johan-cruyff-institute-with-womens-football-at-the-world-football-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johancruyffinstitute.cruyffalumni.org\/en\/the-magazine\/football-business\/johan-cruyff-institute-with-womens-football-at-the-world-football-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Johan Cruyff Institute, with Women’s Football at the World Football Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Johan Cruyff Institute, as academic partner of the event, is attending today in Madrid the Women’s Football Congress organized by WFS<\/h2>\n

Girls also play and, this time, they will do it first. As a prelude to the great football industry congress to be held in Madrid on 16 and 17 October, its organizer, the World Football Summit<\/strong><\/a>, dedicates a day to specifically address women’s football and the great growth it is experiencing. The Women’s Football Summit<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is taking place today at the Espacio Bertelsmann in Madrid and the Johan Cruyff Institute<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is \u2018academic partner\u2019 of the event. <\/p>\n

According to official FIFA data, around 26 million women play football<\/strong> on a regular basis in 180 countries around the world<\/strong>. For its part, UEFA’s Annual Report on Women’s Football in Europe reveals more interesting data that emphasizes the rapid growth of women’s football in the old continent. The number of women playing football has increased fivefold since 1985, and there are more than 7,000 women referees<\/strong> and 21,000 coaches<\/strong>, while 53 European regions have women’s national teams<\/strong> and 51 countries organize their own women’s league<\/strong>. As for Spain, between 2003 and 2013, the number of federated women football players increased from 11,300 to 40,606, a spectacular increase of more than 300% in just 10 years.<\/p>\n

Women’s football has evolved so much that in the last few decades there have been many major championships and tournaments all over the world, including: the European Championship, also known as the Women\u2019s Euro, which organized its first edition in 1982; the Olympic Games, which have included women’s football since Atlanta’96; and the Women’s World Cup, which held its seventh edition in Canada 2015.<\/p>\n

The Women’s Football Summit<\/a>, which is supported by the Spanish government\u2019s Higher Council of Sports program \u201cWomen’s Universe\u201d, has a luxury panel of guest speakers: Sarai Bareman (director of FIFA\u2019s Women’s Football Division), Pedro Malabia (director of La Liga Women’s Football), Ebru K\u00f6ksal (director of Women in Football and member of the Scottish FA\u2019s Equality and Diversity Advisory Board), Gavin Makel (director of Women’s Football at Manchester City) and Linda Wijkstr\u00f6m (general secretary of the Swedish Association of Women’s Football Clubs \u2013 Elitfotboll Dam).<\/p>\n

\"World<\/p>\n

Juan Ignacio Gallardo (Director of MARCA) – moderator, Pilar Abella (General Director of Dimayor Colombia), Pedro Malabia (Director of La Liga Women’s Football), Lisa Wikstr\u00f6m (General secretary Damallsvenskam), Katie Brazier (Head of Women’s Leagues and Competitions FA)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Among the topics to be discussed are:<\/p>\n