Germany: how football fans tick, who they are and what they want to see

- Anyone assuming that the majority of the spectators watching women on the pitch are women will probably be somewhat taken aback if they were to attend a match. A marketing study conducted in 2009 found that the percentage of women to men in the stands was 60 to 40% - with men accounting for the 60%.  Nicole Selmer more»

Mystique of women’s football shattered

- Technically and tactically sophisticated, elegant, and with fewer fouls per game – all of this can be seen as a positive glossing-over of a slower, more languid and less athletic version of … you’ve guessed it … men’s football. This circumstance stepped on the toes of the World Cup’s organisers and also the players during the first few games of the tournament. Nicole Selmer more»

The future is female – or feminine?

- “The future of football is feminine,” announced FIFA boss, Joseph Blatter, fervently in 1995. Is this a hope or a threat? When it comes to femininity, things are not always cut and dry. It can mean that more girls and women will be visible in football than has been the case before – that would equate to a female kick, a natural state of affairs that is long overdue. At the same time, however, the DFB’s slogan for advertising the FIFA Women’s World Cup on home soil is “The beautiful side of 20ELEVEN” Nina Degele more»

"The men's game is faster, of course"

- An interview between Gesine Agena, spokeswoman for Grüne Jugend, and Theo Zwanziger, DFB President, about the FIFA Women's World Cup, equality policy and why the DFB believes it has no need for a quota for women. more»

Can football kick emancipation in the right direction?

- Can football kick emancipation in the right direction? This was one of the key questions a "Getting to Know Your Opponents", an international series of events held in the run-up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup. “Getting to Know Your Opponents” represented an opportunity to explore the state of women’s football in Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria and Germany. It was a means of bridging sports and politics, and the practical and theoretical sides of the game.
Stefanie Groll more»

Football is not played in a vacuum

- Too much media euphoria, too little action: this is the basic tone of media coverage. And too much calculation, writes Barbara Hans of the Spiegel Online. In her view, the Women’s World Cup was “instrumentalised to death” in the run-up to the tournament, not least of all by the host football association itself, the DFB. Nicole Selmer more»

Women’s football – through the eyes of a young lady playing with the ball

- "So, since I kept on playing football, I was given the nickname “maria machinho”, tomboy, among others.". A report by Getting to Know Your Opponents guest Diane Sousa from Brazil. Diane Pereira Sousa more»

Women play football - everywhere

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Women play football – everywhere. But, under what conditions and since when have they been allowed to play? Can football really kick the ball towards more equality and self-determination? Will the football world cup in Germany truly write sport's history? Won't everything return back to normal after the world cup, with women's football continuing to go largely unnoticed? What gender stereotypes do we encounter – will they change through the emergence of new images, new aesthetics, more money for and in women's football?

Barbara Unmüßig more»

The ball doesn’t care who kicks it – or 20ELEVEN in all its diversity

- A sizeable crowd gathered in the hall of the Heinrich Boell Foundation to witness the kick-off to the “Getting to Know Your Opponents” tour and recall or get to know the history of women’s football to date through the film “Die schönste Nebensache der Welt” (That Funny Old Game) by Tanja Bubbel.  Christina Ertl Shriley more»

Getting to Know Your Opponents

-  With the assistance of the Cultural Foundation of the German Football Association (DFB), the Gunda Werner Institute in the Heinrich Boell Foundation presents: GENDER KICKS 2011 – ON TOUR, visiting 12 cities more»

Guerreiras: Female Warriors of Brazilian Futebol

- An interactive, multimedia photography exhibition depicting the lives of professional female football players in Brazil who wear the uniform of one of the greatest male futebol clubs of all time - Santos FC. By Adrienne Grunwald & Caitlin Fisher  more»

Gender Equality in Nigeria Football

- “We Play for Gender Equality” was the slogan for the recent Media Roundtable on Female Football in Nigeria organized by the Foundation with Search & Groom. The event was put together in commemoration of 100 years of International Women’s Day. In the preambles of a paper presentation”..when we describe the game as beautiful, we see the future as feminine and for those who know the link, if you conclude that football is a woman, you will not be wrong"  Aisha Falode reflects on Nigeria football with gender lenses more»

Gender Kicks in Ramallah

-  “Gender Kicks 2011” offers the perfect opportunity to put gender issues on the public agenda, through culture, sports and politics. On 26 June 2011 the series of events will be opened with a kick-off panel that will gather female soccer players, trainers and representatives of female Palestinian football initiative. more»

Great Success - Minor Impact: Women’s Soccer in Canada

- Just a few weeks ago it was quite doubtful if the Canadian team would participate in the upcoming World Cup tournament in Germany. What had happened? A look at recent events and developments. more»

Canada Women Soccer Facts

- Background information. Gender and women's rights in Canada. more»

“We are just as good“ - American Girls love Soccer

- Journalist Petra Krimphove analyses the stituation of women's soccer in the US. And presents interesting facts. more»