"Moving Goalposts: Beyond Barriers" is a brand new podcast series tackling the many challenges women face when pursuing a career in football, as told through the experiences of players, coaches and officials. Episode 1 looks into the gap in football development within Asia.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup has kicked off in India.

For the first time, Asia's premier competition has been expanded from eight to 12 teams, giving more countries the opportunity to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2023.

Listen below to the first episode exploring the gap in women's football in Asia:

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Exploring the gap in women's football in Asia

SBS Audio

23/01/202220:26

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With Australia having already qualified as co-hosts, the 20^th edition of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup will be a golden opportunity for many of Asian football's developing countries.

Five teams will directly qualify for the World Cup, while two more teams will progress to the intercontinental playoffs, meaning that the Asia will be sending the most teams of any confederation to the tournament.

TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN - SEPTEMBER 25: Golnoosh Khosravi of Iranian National Women's football team celebrates during the 2022 Asian Cup Qualifiers, Sep 25,2021 Source: Maryam Majd ATPImages/Getty Images

It will be the first ever AFC Asian Cup for the Iranian team, after their thrilling win against Jordan on penalties in the qualifier.

Unlike the Australian Matildas, whose popularity has skyrocketed in the past few years, the Iranian women’s football team's story has been riddled with challenges for decades.

After the revolution in 1979, the government put an end to women’s football for many years, while in 2007 the national team was banned from the international stage for wearing the hijab on the pitch.

Even leading up to the 2022 Asian Cup, the team failed to arrange a single friendly match, despite sending 14 invitations, because the team was not included in the FIFA rankings until recently.

Japanese goal keeper coach, Maiko Ohtomo has been with the Chinese Taipei Women's National Team since 2019 Source: Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA)

Chinese Taipei will be participating in the tournament for the first time in 14 years.

The team's head coach and goalkeeper, who are both Japanese, aspire to overcome a lack of recognition and popularity at home to book their debut World Cup ticket.

Japanese goalkeeper coach Maiko Ohtomo, who has been with the Chinese Taipei women's national team since 2019, says that "football is not a popular sport" in Taiwan, and because the participation rate of women is so low, the national players themselves "do not realise the value of representing their country".

Bai Lili, a former national player for China PR is the head of AFC Women's Football Development Department Source: Bai Lili

Bai Lili, a former national player for China PR and the head of AFC Women's Football Development Department, says because Asia is the largest continent in the world with such a diverse set of teams, challenges exist in all aspects, from politics and religion to infrastructure and investment. Even time-difference when organising tournaments poses problems.

For host nation India, local journalist Abreshmina Quadri says, "Men's football is well known, but women's football is just starting to grow".

Quadri says the Indian national team has been playing well in recent times, "leading the public to follow women's football more closely".

Abreshmina Quadri, journalist in the host country India for the 2022 Women's Asian Cup Source: Abreshmina Quadri

"We're obviously expecting more fanfare after the Asian Cup because it will build more awareness about the game in the country," she adds.

For more on the barriers facing women in football, listen to the four episodes of "

Moving Goalposts: Beyond Barriers

".