The Georgian Football Federation, in cooperation with UEFA experts, has devised a four-year strategy for the development of women’s football. The strategic document is sub-divided into seven main areas of equal importance.
?“One of GFF’s main priorities is the development of women’s football. We have been working towards this goal since 2016. We have established a regular domestic league championship and implemented projects that serve to develop girls’ football across the whole country. As a result of our targeted activities and projects, we now have more than 1600 female players. In 2016, the figure was no more than 120.
This is only the beginning. We still have a long way to go to achieve the full potential of women’s football in Georgia. Devising the strategy is a historic development for women’s game here, and is fully in line with the objectives which we have set for ourselves.” - Levan Kobiashvili, GFF President
“Five years ago, the Georgian Football Federation embarked on the long and difficult road towards achieving women’s football development. GFF’s holistic approach established a firm base for the next strategic period. At the beginning of this process, the qualifying rounds of international tournaments represented the only platform for our women footballers to take part in competitive matches, as there was no regular domestic league and no other significant competitions in Georgia. Through the GFF grassroots football development programme, we significantly transformed this environment.
“With these strong foundations for the women’s game now in place, GFF must continue its role of governing women’s football and provide consistent opportunities for women and girls to participate and compete, to ultimately capitalise on this momentum in engagement that has been created. There is no time to standstill and reflect what has been achieved. We need to continue our efforts and take women’s football to the next level. We will do this by committing more resources, having a clearer vision, working harder with our stakeholders, and capturing the best practices from across the UEFA network to adopt for our own projects, research and analysis.
For that reason, GFF has developed the Women’s Football Strategy. Through this document, we will be happy to share our plans for encouraging more girls to get involved in the game” - Nikoloz Jgarkava, GFF Vice-President
The main objective of the strategy is to create a strong and supportive structure within community locations and our clubs, allowing our coaches, referees, and volunteers to develop and grow. To ensure long term success, we must work with our partners to build a positive and inspirational perception of women’s football and to deliver safe, sustainable, and welcoming environments for all girls and women who wish to play.
Presentation of the GFF Women’s Football Strategy document took place at the XXXI GFF Congress. The electronic version of the strategy can be accessed on the following link.