Latvia is strengthening football gender equality, implementing good practices under the European Union’s TARGET football project, and deploying new long-term development strategies.
Scoring 61.5 points out of 100 in the Gender Equality Index of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), Latvia ranks 19th in the EU, with a score 8.7 points below the average.
To improve their scorecard, the Latvian Football Federation (LFF) has proposed four good practices, aiming to kick out inequality starting with soccer’s green, and aiming to ultimately make the sport more attractive to girls and women.
Good practices
LFF has launched the “We have wings” campaign to increase awareness and interest in women’s football in Latvia, break to stereotypes about whether football is suitable for all genders and ages.
The federation argues the name of the campaign illustrates the power of football in allowing a girl to achieve any goal “with [her] unique wings”.
Another event empowering girls in sports, with the objective of reducing inequality, is the international conference “Women in Sport” organised and hosted by the LFF in April 2023.
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) also participated in the event, which concentrated on topics including the challenges facing women in sports, how to combine motherhood with being a professional athlete, as well as the increasing career opportunities for women inside and outside of the sporting arena.
The third dimension relates to the women’s football segment, where the LFF and DHL Express have established a cooperation agreement. The logistics company has chosen to support the women’s team, encouraging women to take leading roles not only in business but also in everyday life.
The fourth good practice involves another private sector stakeholder, the Latvian branch of Lidl, which supports the girls’ football championship and the girls’ indoor football championship, in order to raise the level of competition organisation.
Reducing gender bias
Speaking with Euractiv, LFF representatives highlighted other strategies being employed to reduce gender bias through football.
A women’s football strategy has been developed, with the active involvement of the women’s football department, the national team, education and communication department to ensure implementation and monitoring.
Players of this year’s national team finally had their surnames printed on their jerseys. The team now organises a children’s programme with a tour before the game, footage from dressing rooms and opening ceremonies with flag girls.
The LFF is in planning to improve visits to girls’ football clubs and have national team players get closer to players in provinces of newly established clubs, by training together and sharing experiences.
The winter championship in girls’ football has been renewed and improved, and now starts with players aged under 8, treating all matches like celebrations in the playoff arena. A girls’ soccer festival with Playmakers girls is also in development.
The LFF will roll-out new accreditation regulations for girls’ football clubs only, whereby representatives will assess the situation on the ground, recommend improvements, and have club coaches ask for advice from the federation’s mentors.
Room for improvement
Compared to 2022, when Covid-19 ended, the LFF reports that there are now 23 clubs participating in competitions, compared to 18 in the pandemic year. Eight football clubs have had their own girls’ teams.
According to Women’s Football: Member Associations Survey Report 2023 compiled by FIFA, Latvia has 693 registered female players over the age of 20, while there are 1,393 registered female players under the age of 20.
Out of 711 coaches in the country, 48 are women. Among 293 licensed referees, 24 are women – not even reaching 10% in any categories of participation.
Latvia has adopted a Women’s Football Strategy, Safeguarding Policy, and has a Women’s Football Committee as well as a Women’s National Futsal Team.
15% of the employees of the Latvian Football Federation are women; 22% of the executive committee members are women.
Reaching gender equality, still a farfetched goal
While there is still room for improvement, gender equality is yet to be achieved both in European and non-European countries. According to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. At the current rate, the UN predicts, it will take 140 years to achieve equal representation in leadership in the workplace, 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory laws, as well as 300 years to end child marriage.
Gender inequality is a penalty kick at a nation’s own goal. Time to turn things around.
[Edited By Brian Maguire | Euractiv’s Advocacy Lab ]
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Publish date : 2024-09-18 11:32:00
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