FIFA creates rule requiring female coaches at women’s tournaments

ZURICH, Switzerland:

Female soccer coaches will get more chances to work at the Women's World Cup and other tournaments after FIFA passed a new rule Thursday.

FIFA said it will require at its women's tournaments that "at least one female must be a head coach or assistant coach" of each team.

Just 10 of 32 teams at the 2023 Women's World Cup had a female head coach, including Sarina Wiegman of beaten finalists England.

"We must do more to accelerate change by creating clearer pathways, expanding opportunities, and increasing the visibility for women on our sidelines," FIFA's Chief Football Officer Jill Ellis said in a statement.

FIFA's policy will aim to spread globally what European soccer body UEFA has done where the women's game is more developed.

Though just seven of 16 teams at the Women's European Championship had a female head coach, all that appointed a man as head coach had to have a female assistant coach.

Wiegman guided England to retain their European title, which was her own third in a row and an eighth straight for female head coaches in the competition dating back to 1997.

- AP