Women’s Football Added To ‘crown Jewels’

The UK government has confirmed that the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the UEFA European Women’s Championship will remain available for free-to-air television broadcasters, with both tournaments added to its listed events regime.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup and the UEFA Women’s European Championships will join the ‘crown jewels’ of sporting events that must be offered to free-to-air broadcasters and will help these events remain available to the biggest audiences. It joins the likes of the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup Finals, the Wimbledon Tennis Finals, the Grand National, and the FA Cup Final.

According to a statement, the move shows the government’s commitment ‘to supporting women’s sport at every opportunity – pushing for greater participation, employment, commercial opportunities and visibility in the media.’

The past few years has seen incredible progress within women’s sport, with record breaking audiences tuning in and attendances at venues growing.

More than 28m people across the UK tuned in to watch the BBC’s coverage of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, including 11m people who watched England’s loss to the United States in the semi-final.

This move also represents a further step towards the greater inclusivity and diversity of the regime, following on from the addition of the Paralympic Games in January 2020.

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