FIFA has today published the fourth edition of Setting the Pace – its informative benchmarking report that provides insights into the factors that drive success in women’s football clubs and leagues. Following the delivery of the first three editions that focused on the top 30 to 34 women’s football leagues in the world, the fourth edition marks a significant evolution as it expands beyond only the elite sector of the game to encompass three “tiers” of women’s football leagues. In total, the report directly monitors 86 leagues and 669 clubs, painting an increasingly accurate picture of the global women’s club football landscape.

The fourth edition of the report was open to each of FIFA’s 211 Member Associations to participate on the basis that a top-flight women’s football league is operational in their nation. This move was made by FIFA to ensure that enhanced information and data could be collected globally across six key areas: sporting, governance, financial landscape, fan engagement, data and digital, and player-related matters. The expansion of the dataset and its subsequent release is intended to help clubs, leagues and stakeholders worldwide to gain a better understanding of the best practices and trends prevalent in the most successful women’s football leagues in the world, and to provide tools and recommendations to support leagues at all stages of the professionalisation pipeline.

“This month FIFA announced the timelines and formats for two new, landmark, global FIFA women’s club competitions,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “As we embark on the development of these tournaments, it is equally important that we offer insights and resources to women’s football stakeholders so that together we can build on the solid foundations already in place. FIFA will utilise the findings to build tailor-made programmes that will support Member Associations to continue to professionalise women’s football – this is critical as we embark on a new era for women’s club football on the global stage.”

In light of the expansive findings detailed in the report, edition four of Setting the Pace offers 15 recommendations for the consideration of leagues and clubs. These recommendations cover all six topic areas, and include insights into season lengths, player and coach pathways, safeguarding, strategy development, contracts, maternity regulations, broadcast and social media, and more.

FIFA Chief Football Officer Jill Ellis added: “One of the key findings in the report is that, across 86 leagues and 669 clubs, only 22 per cent of head coaches are women. While we cannot improve this figure overnight, by unearthing and analysing the data we can understand where we need to continue to invest, implement and perhaps even evolve our women’s coach development programmes to unlock more opportunities for women and empower everyone working in women’s football – on and off the pitch.” In December last year, FIFA announced Global Benchmarking of Women’s Leagues as a new programme within its Women’s Development Programme structure through to 2027 – the year of the next FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in Brazil. By committing to conduct regular, in-depth research into women’s club football and to provide additional insights to Member Associations via a dedicated digital dashboard, FIFA underscored its commitment to helping enhance the overall quality and competitiveness of women’s leagues worldwide through intentional and insightful research and analysis.