Back your women's teams properly, FIFA women's officer tells FAs

LONDON : National football associations need to properly support their women's teams so they can perform at their best, FIFA chief women's football officer Sarai Bareman said on Wednesday.

A number of teams who featured at the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand were in dispute with their associations, casting a pall over the buildup to the tournament.

England put aside a dispute over bonuses to reach the final, while Canada and Nigeria have long been locked in disputes with their respective federations. Jamaica even had to crowdfund for preparation expenses before they travelled to the tournament.

Winners Spain had long been in dispute with the Spanish federation (RFEF) over coach Jorge Vilda's methods and training practices.

This came to a head when former RFEF president Luis Rubiales kissed player Jenni Hermoso on the lips in the medal ceremony in Sydney. Vilda was sacked last month before Rubiales resigned.

Bareman, a former Samoa player, said female players would never reach their full potential unless backed year-round by their associations and clubs.

"Give them the environment and support that they should get as professional athletes. It's very simple. You know, we did it at this World Cup, we (FIFA) equalised all of the levels of people and service levels for those efforts," she said at the Leaders sports business conference in London.

"So they fly business class and have single hotel rooms, they have team base camps now, the delegation sizes are equal to what we saw (at the men's World Cup) in Qatar.

"You need to give those athletes an environment where they can actually perform and be at their best when they get onto the pitch. And that's not just a World Cup that's day in and day out the club