WFLP helping women thrive in football
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
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Introduced as a result of feedback from the national associations, the UEFA Women in Football Leadership Programme has made a significant impact in its first year.
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UEFA's member associations are already seeing the benefits of the UEFA Women in Football Leadership Programme (WFLP) on the first anniversary of its launch.
Inaugurated as a result of feedback from the national associations, the programme has held two sessions to date in Nyon, Switzerland, with a third scheduled at the end of April. It has innovatively sought to develop female executives in order to give them the tools to climb the ladder of promotion in their countries and in doing so, promote equality and integration in European football.
"The creation of this project is good in the short and the long term and will positively affect the performance of female employees," said Elkhan Mammadov, general secretary of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA), whose international relations expert Konul Mehdiyeva participated on the course.
"Konul has received a promotion, especially in specific projects. She currently leads two projects which are essential for AFFA: one is related to our major sponsors and the second relates to the activities of the association. I have noticed that Konul has become more self-confident, her communication skills have developed and she is not scared to take responsibility, which is crucial."
The WFLP is not only aimed at women working in the women's football sector, but women who work in all different areas of the game. With this forthcoming third edition, participants will have included representatives from 43 of the 54 UEFA member associations, as well as other stakeholders such as the European Club Association (ECA), the Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), FIFPro and CAFE.
"I am happy that my colleagues could progress through your UEFA training programmes," added Jasmin Baković, general secretary of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Federation (NSBiH), whose accountant Dženita Sijamić also took part. "We are especially pleased that women from national associations have the opportunity for professional development in football. Of course, new knowledge and experience will be applied in practice as much as possible and we are grateful to UEFA to have such a chance."
