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After the final of last year's FIFA Women's World Cup was overshadowed by the incident involving Luis Rubiales and Jenni Hermoso – and the Royal Spanish Football Federation initially closed ranks to protect Rubiales – Women in Football called on governing bodies to adopt a series of measures which would overhaul the culture of the game from the top down.

Our Open Doors Agenda – named in response to the invitation from FIFA president Gianni Infantino for women to “just push the doors” and say what football needs to do – would ensure that sound governance principles are adopted across the game worldwide, ensuring fair representation for women in decision-making processes. The resultant culture change would make football a better place for everyone involved. 

Among the provisions of the Open Doors Agenda is that senior decision-makers would be recruited by transparent processes and serve fixed terms of office. We also recommend that national, continental and world governing bodies set out plans to achieve an initial target of at least 30 per cent female membership of their general assemblies and executive committees.

In this context Women in Football has some observations about the proceedings of the 74th FIFA Congress last week. 

We welcome the introduction of an anti-discrimination committee and the positive ‘Global Stand Against Racism’.

Members of the congress were asked to vote on, and have approved, a number of governance changes. These included an increase in the number of FIFA committees from seven to 35. 

FIFA says "an increased number of standing committees will also see more female representation". History shows, however, that this cannot be taken as read. 

Two days before the Congress, the FIFA president attended The Leadership Forum: Executive Women in Football event in Bangkok and said: "We remain committed to broadening female representation and diversity in football decision-making at all levels by refining regulatory frameworks." 

This is precisely the approach recommended by Women in Football's Open Doors Agenda. But where in these latest proposals is a guarantee of greater female representation? Women in Football calls for clear targets to be set and measures put in place to ensure that the new committees will enhance female participation in decision-making. While we welcome the introduction of a women’s football committee, it is important that this is not the only place women are represented.

The Asian Football Confederation, meanwhile, has voted to abolish term limits for its president and board members. Term limits, as stated above, are among the recommendations of the Open Doors Agenda. Term limits bring significant benefits to boards such as promoting diversity, encouraging fresh perspectives, reducing complacency and ensuring accountability of directors.

We now look to FIFA to follow words with actions and set out the detail on how this will happen, and we stand ready to share our expertise in support of these outcomes.

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