The prospect of women’s teams boycotting upcoming Fifa tournaments has revived questions about how much influence players have over the future of the game.
The Women’s Under-20 World Cup is scheduled for September, the Under-17 World Cup begins in October, and senior World Cup playoff ties are also due to take place that month. A threat to withdraw from any of those events would be consequential, particularly for young players whose development could be disrupted.
But the argument for a boycott is that the stakes extend beyond a single tournament. The futures of women’s competitions, the governance of football and the terms on which commercial decisions are made are all central to the dispute around Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
In 2023, Infantino told women in football to “pick the right battles” and said they had the power to convince men and Fifa to act. The remarks were widely criticised as condescending. Three years on, women’s teams may have a direct role in determining whether the organisation faces meaningful pressure for reform.
The immediate concern centres on the now-scrapped proposal to sell a stake in Fifa tournaments through the Fifa Forward Enterprise subsidiary. That proposal would have affected women’s competitions as well as men’s tournaments.
The wider questions are more longstanding. Fifa’s disciplinary committee has two women among its 18 members. All 10 members of its Future of Football committee are men. Of the 37 members of the Fifa Council, 29 are men and eight are women, while seven of the eight vice-presidents are men.
Prize money also illustrates the gap. The 2023 Women’s World Cup had a total prize fund of $110m. This summer’s men’s World Cup prize pot was about eight times larger at $871m.
There have been improvements in women’s football since Infantino took office in 2016, including increased investment, higher prize money and better provisions for players and coaches. Yet the gap between progress and equal influence remains substantial.
A boycott would place a heavy burden on players, particularly younger women who have worked towards appearing at a World Cup. It could also deny them a major platform.
However, the possibility of collective action has exposed the leverage women’s football can hold. If teams use that leverage to demand stronger representation, transparency and accountability, the debate could reach beyond the immediate controversy and reshape how the game is governed.
