European Commission wants UEFA to incorporate more female coaches

The European Commission is calling on UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) to include more female coaches in football, said Androulla Vassiliou, member of the European Commission for education, culture, multilingualism and youth, on the occasion of her visit to the headquarters of UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) in Nyon (SUI) on 30/04/2014.

"The Commission will prioritise gender equality in sport in the coming years. It is estimated that only 20-30% of all football coaches are female," added the Cypriot commissioner. Women in coaching, she believes, would encourage greater development of women's football in Europe.

"I think we need to change the mentality of the sports stakeholders within associations, in European clubs, and also in UEFA," said Michel Platini, UEFA's president, on 30/04/2014.

The European Commission also wants an effort be made on the inclusion of women in European football authorities. Currently 20 out of 54 European federations are run exclusively by men.