CONMEBOL

CONMEBOL promotes its club licensing strategy to raise the women’s game

• Founded in 2009, the CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina, also known as the Copa Libertadores Femenina, is an annual women’s football competition between clubs from CONMEBOL’s ten member associations.

• The tournament was created to promote the growth of the female game and is CONMEBOL’s flagship club competition for women.

• The CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina 2021 will be the 13th edition in the competition’s history and will take place in Paraguay and Uruguay from 3 to 21 November.

• For the first time, it will feature a compulsory club licensing system for all participating teams.

Women’s football is soaring as it continues to formalise in countries around the world. This is evidenced by the first-ever CONMEBOL Women’s Football Congress, held in 2020, where leaders from South American football met to discuss the future of the women’s game.

This is one of many examples of what is transpiring in the region. In 2009, CONMEBOL, the South American Football Confederation, made a decisive move to promote the development of the female game by launching the CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina.

Since its inception, the tournament has steadily built momentum to become the most important international competition for women’s club football throughout South America. It has experienced exponential growth, with club participation rising to 16 from ten in its first decade and the number of matches climbing to 32 from 22 in the same period.

Progress now takes the shape of a new club licensing system for all of the participating teams that will be featured in the 2021 edition.

The intention is to “create a pathway that allows clubs to improve their overall standards and meet the minimum requirements necessary to put the discipline on a professional footing”, says Fabimar Franchi Benavides, the Head of Sustainability and Women’s Football Development at CONMEBOL.

At the same time, it will enable the CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina (also known as the Copa Libertadores Femenina) to support club growth and player performance.

“This will create the potential for more investment and will offer a more attractive entertainment proposition for sponsors and football fans alike,” says Benavides.

CONMEBOL perceives the licensing system as a tool that will allow it to gradually improve club standards and the Libertadores Femenina, by establishing minimum requirements that will be met and processes that will be put in place for the first time by all clubs that qualify for the 2021 tournament.

“We are convinced that the progress shown in the competition will be bolstered by the implementation of the women’s club licensing system,” says Benavides.

The criteria set are divided into five categories that are designed to reflect the wider social, economic and political contexts: sporting, infrastructure, administrative, legal and financial.

“We consider these categories to be reflective of all of the fundamental aspects needed to achieve the professionalisation of women’s football in South America,” adds Benavides.

However, they are also critical to help develop the women’s game from the bottom up. For example, the sporting criteria establish that clubs must have a youth team and also provide guidelines to train their technical staff.

Benavides emphasises that all of these categories will be gradually enforced until 2022, which will allow clubs to adapt and make the necessary investments to participate in the tournament. CONMEBOL will provide training and other support initiatives in domestic competitions.

CONMEBOL began to work closely with FIFA for the 2018 edition to evaluate and analyse the profiles of the participating clubs.

“The aim was to understand the gaps between them and what specific things were needed to promote the development and professionalisation of women’s football,” says Benavides.

Over a three-year period, CONMEBOL held individual meetings with each participating club to conduct checks and assessments, evaluating not only the domestic football landscape in each country, but also the position of the Libertadores Femenina itself. Benavides notes that CONMEBOL was able to examine each club’s plans and challenges in depth and, in some cases, either the progress or the difficulties encountered by clubs involved in the competition on more than one occasion.

““This input meant that we could learn and understand the needs and challenges across the region,” she says.

While conducting its analysis, CONMEBOL led working groups with the club licensing managers of its member associations to understand each country’s perspective and administrative dealings. It also took strategic decisions regarding the Libertadores Femenina’s rules with the aim of delivering a tournament that would both reflect and incentivise the required changes for all stakeholders.

“That is why we are sure that the next edition [the 2021 tournament] is the appropriate time for the implementation of the licensing system, given that all stakeholders were involved in defining the requirements and implementation plan,” says Benavides.

That is not to say the process is free from challenges.

One of CONMEBOL’s hurdles is presenting the licensing system as a tool for progress and showing that it is not intended to exclude clubs, while reiterating that it is not mere optional guidance. To foster understanding, the confederation is providing training and coordination sessions to its member associations and their clubs. CONMEBOL also plans to create a roadmap for clubs to further incentivise them to make the necessary investment to professionalise women’s football, thus ensuring growth, sustainability and development over time.

“As a leading institution, CONMEBOL’s goal is for clubs to set an example and become world champions,” underlines Benavides.

“We are therefore seeking to promote and develop football through these measures, meeting all of clubs’ and women’s football’s needs.”