24 February 2016
With the election for FIFA President taking place on Friday, Women in Football contacted all five candidates to ask their views on the role of women in the game, and how they plan to bring about reform in this area.
All five candidates were sent questions on Monday 15th February 2016, and asked to respond by Monday 22nd February 2016.
Only two out of five provided full responses. Jérôme Champagne apologised for not answering the survey due to time constraints and has directed us to an interview he did on the subject here. Prince Ali Al Hussein and Tokyo Sexwale did not respond.
For the two candidates who did respond fully, please see their answers below:
Gianni Infantino
1. Do you support the amendments to the FIFA Statutes regarding gender equality (including articles 2, 15, 23, 39)? (Yes/No)
Yes
2. What specific steps will you take as FIFA President to significantly increase the number of women represented – across all roles, from pitch to boardroom - in the Member Associations?
As outlined in my FIFA Presidential election Manifesto, I want to see intensified efforts to promote the women's game and ensure more diversity at FIFA HQ, and that includes employing more talented women, including in leading positions. I will be committed to strengthen gender equality, promote the advancement of women and improve the resourcing of women's football. I want FIFA to set a trend that can spread in the Confederations and National Associations to start with and then everywhere where there is some sort of football organization. We will see that in the FIFA council but also on the other Committees and FIFA administration. I will also make sure that there is a strong investment in the marketing opportunities for Women's Football. It's probably the area in which football can grow even more so we need to facilitate this and put the resources we have at the service of this objective.
3. Should you become FIFA President what specific steps will you take to ensure that women are represented in each of the following areas of football governance: FIFA Standing Committees, senior management of FIFA, Confederations, Member Associations, and Clubs.
I think the crucial thing is that through the reforms I have highlighted above, we can set about a real cultural change in football that brings women much more into the football family – whether at FIFA HQ or across the Associations and at club level. There are a few things we can start working on immediately like the running of a leadership programme dedicated to women in football so as to help accelerate the process of getting more qualified women into decision making roles.
4. In appointing women to leadership roles, how will you ensure a more diverse range of decision makers?
The new FIFA cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of its forefathers with largely old white men or for that matter in the new order, old white women and men appointed to the top table. The women and men appointed must also come from more diverse backgrounds based on gender, ethnicity, disability and so on.
I agree, it is not just a question of ensuring more talented women enter football, but that these women also come from a diverse background to ensure FIFA and football can face the challenges and opportunities of the twenty first century more effectively. There are already some good practices in other sports that football can look into in order to address this. Let me just add that it's not only the gender we must have in consideration but any form of discrimination should be eradicated.
5. Should you become FIFA President, will you support the Calls to Action from the 2015 FIFA Women's Football Symposium and/or the Women's Football Taskforce (please indicate yes or no for each):
a. A quota of 20%, and a 30% longer-term target, for gender balance in decision-making bodies;
b. Timelines for compliance with quotas/targets;
c. Consequences for failures to reach those targets;
I agree with the thrust of these proposals but before committing to any specific targets, it will be important to have a full consultation with Associations and football's stakeholders to agree achievable targets. I want the most talented people to work at FIFA, irrespective of whether they are male or female. Above all, it is what they can bring to FIFA and to football that is important but I think women are underrepresented in football in general and in FIFA, so I think we should find a way to balance that, never forgetting that the competence of the person is the most important thing.
5. Should you become FIFA President what specific steps will you take to ensure that a fair share of total financial resources are put towards women's football in FIFA, the Confederations, the Member Associations and Clubs worldwide? How will you ensure that football is available to and resourced for women and girls who wish to participate?
If I am elected the next FIFA President, women's football will be a priority and this will be reflected in how FIFA distributes its development funding.
We will increase dedicated FIFA staff to oversee and appropriately monitor the development programmes delivered specifically for women's football projects in the member associations. Furthermore we will strengthen the cooperation with the confederations to create synergies for a greater support to the national associations. Lastly, specific initiatives will be but in place support the member association to develop their club and league structures to further drive that growth and improve the grassroots and elite player pathway systems.
7. Do you believe that FIFA should itself be a leader and a model of gender equality? If so, how will you as FIFA President ensure this occurs? Specifically will you:
a. Commit to identify and eliminate any gender pay gap in FIFA? Yes.
b. Commit to an independent third party audit of gender equality in FIFA? If yes, will you publish the results? Yes.
c. Other?
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa
1. Do you support the amendments to the FIFA Statutes regarding gender equality (including articles 2, 15, 23, 39)? (Yes/No)
Yes
2. What specific steps will you take as FIFA President to significantly increase the number of women represented – across all roles, from pitch to boardroom - in the Member Associations?
I will proceed along the lines of the Asian Football Confederation, AFC, which I have presided over for the past three years: the AFC already has a minimum requirement in its statutes for females to be on its Executive Committee. If we want to introduce meaningful change, we must elect women into those positions of executive power that allow for top-down initiatives throughout football. Once we have a larger number of women executives in football, at any level, we must also support their effort to launch programmes that start at the bottom, i.e. the grassroots, in order to embed the notion in young girls, teenagers and young adult women that football is just as much their sport as it is that of their brothers, cousins and male friends. I shall make sure that appropriate funding and technical support is made available for women's football at all levels, accompanied by professional programmes that create opportunity for girls and young women.
3. Should you become FIFA President what specific steps will you take to ensure that women are represented in each of the following areas of football governance: FIFA Standing Committees, senior management of FIFA, Confederations, Member Associations, and Clubs.
I will implement similar programmes as I have in Asia and would further stipulate and support are programmes and procedures that empower women. No doubt it would set a clear signal if I were to find a high-powered woman CEO for FIFA, which is certainly something I would actively pursue if elected.
4. In appointing women to leadership roles, how will you ensure a more diverse range of decision makers?
The new FIFA cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of its forefathers with largely old white men or for that matter in the new order, old white women and men appointed to the top table. The women and men appointed must also come from more diverse backgrounds based on gender, ethnicity, disability and so on.
As an Asian president and one perfectly cognizant of FIFA's past, I will by definition be more inclusive in my choices and the selection process. I need not be reminded of a reality that I have witnessed for decades.
5. Should you become FIFA President, will you support the Calls to Action from the 2015 FIFA Women's Football Symposium and/or the Women's Football Taskforce (please indicate yes or no for each):
a. A quota of 20%, and a 30% longer-term target, for gender balance in decision-making bodies;
Yes
b. Timelines for compliance with quotas/targets;
Yes
c. Consequences for failures to reach those targets;
Yes
6. Should you become FIFA President what specific steps will you take to ensure that a fair share of total financial resources are put towards women's football in FIFA, the Confederations, the Member Associations and Clubs worldwide? How will you ensure that football is available to and resourced for women and girls who wish to participate?
Naturally, and particularly under the new reforms that will be voted on this week, the President's options to act will be significantly reduced. Which, in itself, is a good thing: FIFA must not be the realm of one person. On the other hand, I shall use all avenues that are open to me to initiative and forcefully implement programmes in support of women's football as I have done in Asia. My concept to be a non-executive President will allow me to visit with Confederations and Associations around the world regularly: those visits and meetings will allow me to understand local and regional needs first-hand and subsequently develop and implement programmes that are tailor-made.
7. Do you believe that FIFA should itself be a leader and a model of gender equality? If so, how will you as FIFA President ensure this occurs? Specifically will you:
a. Commit to identify and eliminate any gender pay gap in FIFA?
A gender pay gap is not justified and not acceptable: equal pay for equal work must qualify a modern organization
b. Commit to an independent third party audit of gender equality in FIFA? If yes, will you publish the results?
Yes, if I see no or insufficient change and of course such a review can and shall be published
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