MOYA DODD holds positions on three football governing bodies. She is the VP of the Asian Football Confederation, director of Football Federation Australia and is a co-opted member of FIFA’s exec committee. Her first foray into the world of football was as a player herself, where she spent almost a decade with the Matildas, Australia’s national women’s team. Dodd is also a partner at Sydney law firm Gilbert+Tobin Lawyers. She spoke to SBD Global about making football accessible, female leadership and the 2015 Women's World Cup.
On the growth of women’s football ...
Moya Dodd: Girls love to play just as boys do -- so the sheer love of the game and the will to participate is much more evident. There's a growing demand from girls and women to play. Now, football bodies all around the world are realizing the potential and enabling it to happen more and more, with more development initiatives and competitions. Sponsors and their customers are also more conscious of gender issues, which really facilitates awareness and hence opportunity.
On football accessibility ...
Dodd: Accessibility is the key. If girls can play, they will play. I would love to see every member association in FIFA working with others, such as schools, to make football as accessible and acceptable for girls as it is to boys. At the same time, developing the elite end of the sport is important to create role models and meaningful career pathways for players, coaches and others on and off the field.
On female leadership in FIFA ...
Dodd: [Increasing female leadership] is an important challenge both inside and outside football. Ensuring diversity in decision-making unquestionably improves decision-making. So the benefit of gender balance in leadership is huge, especially in a sport that has been, until now, overwhelmingly male. FIFA's 2014 Congress approved a principle that every member association should have at least one woman on its executive committee and has itself included three women on the FIFA executive committee. AFC has five female ExCo members, comprising 20 percent of the total. These "quota" positions are accelerating the gender diversity that might otherwise take decades to appear at the top table of football decision-makers. Progress for female coaches has been much slower, so the women coaches we are seeing at the FIFA Women's World Cup are very important. FIFA is also launching a leadership program for women -- so watch this space!
On the 2015 Women's World Cup ...
Dodd: The competitions team in FIFA, led by [FIFA Deputy Dir & Women's Competition Head] Tatjana Haenni, has done all the hard work, together with our Canadian hosts. I have advocated the tournament as much as I can. I like to remind people that this is the biggest women's team sport event in the world, not to mention the best. It's fantastic to be part of this tournament. I've seen some absolutely superb football and some of the most entertaining games ever, including from the lower-ranked nations. The broadcast coverage and digital reach have been ground-breaking, and there are a lot of conferences and conversations going on around the games as well.
On football in Asia ...
Dodd: Asia offers huge opportunities and huge challenges. Two-thirds of the world's population lives there, many on low-income levels -- women and girls especially. Their role models now include World Cup winners -- Japan, at senior women's and U17 level -- and five finalists in Canada -- China, Japan, Korea, Australia and Thailand -- four of which made it to the knock-out round. Grassroots participation is also growing, including because the headscarf rule was changed, which opened up the game for half a million Muslim women and girls in the world.
Hangin' With runs each Friday in SBD Global.
