Newly Elected FIFA Council Member Kiron Hoping To Empower Women In Asia

Improving wages and ensuring job security are "key elements of Mahfuza Akhter Kiron's plans to develop women's football in Asia," the continent's newly-elected representative to the FIFA Council said, according to Sudipto Ganguly of REUTERS. The 50-year-old from Bangladesh beat "prominent" women's football advocate Moya Dodd of Australia by 27 votes to 17 at this month's election in Manama, Bahrain, for the women's slot representing Asia on FIFA's ruling body. Women's football is at a "developed stage in only a handful of Asian nations and struggles to get even a foothold in conservative Arab countries." Kiron is also "dismayed by the disparity in salaries of men and women in the game." She said, "The wages must be improved and there has to be job security for women footballers. It's completely insane. Why would a woman be interested in football? We have to develop our football in a way where women can consider it as a career option" (REUTERS, 5/18).