Barriers in women’s football exist not only in the football developing countries, but in the football developed nations such as the 2022 Asian Champion, China PR.
Bai Lili, the head of AFC women’s football development, and a former national player for China PR say, China winning the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup after 16 years, will bring about the much-needed change in the perception of women’s football.
“The girls won the respect and have shown new image of women playing football”
Bai Lili was a former national player for China PR Source: Bai Lili
Philippines and Vietnam qualifying for the FIFA 2023 World Cup was also a massive achievement, says Bai.
A “proof” that all the implementation and campaigns AFC have been pushing to improve women’s football in Asia, is indeed working.
Bai reveals that the Asian Cup may in fact expand from 12 to 16 teams in the near future, to provide more opportunities to its member associations.
Keiko Tanaka is a former national player for Japan’s U19 squad, with almost a decade of experience playing in the nation’s women’s league. She arrived in Australia in 2020, and currently wears the No.10 jersey at Gladesville Ravens (NPL2).
Keiko says that the disparity in the popularity and monetary profit between men and women, is very real in Japan.
Keiko Tanaka, Gladesville Ravens Source: Dan Ullman
In September 2021, Japan launched a professional women’s league for the first time, called Women Empowerment (WE) League. In comparison, the men's have a well established and successful J-League for three decades.
“I was finally able to feel that female players are also getting recognized as a professional player” says Keiko.
Keiko believes that the league will lift the level of football to a higher standard, and “enable players to feel a sense of responsibility and professionalism that they never felt before”.
Now that the AFC women’s Asia Cup is done and dusted, all eyes are on the 2023 FIFA World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand.
Together with the host country Australia, China, South Kora, Japan, Philippines, and Vietnam have all secured a spot, while hopes are high for Thailand and Chinese Taipei as they go into the inter-confederation play-offs.
For these language groups in Australia, it will be an unforgettable opportunity to get behind and cheer on their national heroes.
Kamran Keshavarz, president of Iranian Football Association in Australia (IFAA) says ,it will be a great opportunity for the Persian-speaking community to raise awareness about women's football, and provide opportunities to participate in the sport.
The organization was founded in 2014, just before the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia, as a means to raise awareness of football within the Persian-speaking community in Australia.
Kamran says, the lack of knowledge and the lack of interest are the major obstacles to Iranian women's participation in football here in Australia, but hopes to break down barriers and pave the way for women’s football in the country.
For more, listen to the 4th and final episode of
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Creating awareness about women's football
SBS Audio
11/02/202221:01
