"Our goal is clear: we want to develop football across our continent." Alejandro Dominguez, President of the South American Football Federation (CONMEBOL), made this declaration to those attending the women’s football seminar held in Quito, Ecuador, on the eve of the CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina final. Numerous CONMEBOL representatives, clubs, female and male players – including FIFA World Cup™ winners Mauro Silva and Jorge Valdano – coaches and media representatives gathered at the event to discuss the present and future of South American football. "From CONMEBOL, we will start eliminating gender in our tournaments and simply call women’s football football, because we believe that women and men feel the same passion for the sport," added President Dominguez.

CONMEBOL believes that seminars like these are extremely important in emboldening women and girls to pursue their dreams and assert themselves in both their sporting and personal lives. The aim is to help transform and equip women’s football in South America to provide opportunities, promote values and technical skills and improve conditions for women and girls on and off the pitch. The players at Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras have already made that dream a reality. Palmeiras recorded an emphatic 4-1 win over Boca Juniors in the final of the Copa Libertadores Femenina to lift the region’s most prestigious trophy for the first time in their history. "This 4th edition of the "F for Female" football seminar is part of our development strategy to strengthen our tournaments, train our talent and promote the role of women on and off the field," explained Fabimar Franchi, Sustainability and Women’s Football Development Manager at CONMEBOL. "Work is ongoing to develop the discipline of women’s football in South America." Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras owe their success to the increasing professionalisation of the women’s game in Brazil. The FIFA Benchmarking Report, which provides a comprehensive global analysis of the state of women’s football’s elite leagues and clubs, contains a detailed case study about the club and the unstoppable growth of its women’s division under the direction of Leila Pereira, the only female club president in Brazil’s Serie A.

FIFA’s second elite women’s football study was unveiled on the day of the final and provides a comprehensive overview of 30 leagues and 294 clubs across the women’s game worldwide, including four leagues within CONMEBOL: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia. Ignacio Toro, Professionalisation Manager in FIFA’s Women’s Football Division, presented the results of the study at the seminar in the Ecuadorian capital. "As FIFA looks to further accelerate the growth of women’s football, we are committed to supporting decision-makers on their journey towards professionalisation," said Toro. "The second edition of FIFA's Setting the Pace Benchmarking Report provides a comprehensive analysis of elite leagues and clubs around the world, assessing the drivers of women's football development and best practice in confederations. It was a fantastic experience to share some of these insights at CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina and we will continue to work with all stakeholders around women's football."