10 Mar 2015

The world football governing body, FIFA, signed the Brighton Plus Helsinki 2014 Declaration on March 7 .

The declaration is a guiding document of the International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG), which directed all their signatories and had to be satisfied in order for women and girls to advance in sport.

IWG marketing and public relations manager, Boitumelo Kenosi said in an interview that indeed, the president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter and IWG chairperson, Ruth Maphorisa signed the declaration in Zurich, Switzerland.

Kenosi said IWG saw the signing of the declaration as a great milestone, given that FIFA was one of the major players in the field and the biggest player in seeing football becoming the biggest sport worldwide.

She said FIFA had essentially taken it upon itself to partner with IWG, realising the ideals that supported advancement and participation of women in sport, particularly football. 

“This is indeed one of our greatest conquers. FIFA has over the years made concerted effort to promote women participation in all functions, roles and all levels, from setting the women’s league to opting in female executive committee members. It is one of the federations that should be hailed for being champions in advancing and pushing for women and girls participation, breaking down as many barriers as possible,” she said. 

Although FIFA signed the declaration, Kenosi said the commitment made was not directly towards the affiliates but more towards an all-encompassing approach towards women empowerment in football. 

She said during the signing ceremony Blatter said, “This is a concerted push for development and empowerment across the world and laying a strong foundation for the future of Women’s’ football and women in sport.” 

Kenosi said that quote alone speak volumes because it clearly shows FIFA’s commitment at a global level, hence the need for other affiliates to be encouraged to live the principle. 

She however emphasised that because FIFA has signed, IWG would not ‘rest on their laurels’ but they would also continue to pursue different association on an individual level to sign the declaration. 

Furthermore, ambassador for the Declaration, Ms Tebogo Lebotse Sebego said this was a great development for the IWG, particularly that the world leading sports organisation signed the declaration whilst Botswana was the co-chair. 

Lebotse Sebego said no one could dispute that soccer is big game and the fact that FIFA had endorsed the declaration and thus committing to be willing participants in the development of the women’s game was something worth celebrating. “It is especially pleasing that our own BFA supported the IWG in this assignment,” she said.

Meanwhile, Botswana will host the IWG world conference in 2018, and the secretariat is hosted in Botswana from September 2014 to September 2018 in preparation for the conference.  ENDS