As part of International Women’s Rights Day on March 8, the Professional Football League (LFP) reveals in its annual image barometer carried out with Ipsos that “football is becoming, for the first time, women’s favorite sport “, supplanting tennis.
According to the survey carried out between November and December 2023 among a sample of 2,042 French people aged 16 to 75, 36% of women say they are interested in football and 32% in tennis.
The survey also highlights that women now represent “40% of people interested in football“, according to the LFP, the largest share ever recorded and a figure that has been constantly increasing since the launch of the study in 2008.
Some 6.3 million women now support a Ligue 1 or Ligue 2 club, or around 900,000 additional people in one year, says the LFP.
To respond to these increases, the body, on the occasion of March 8, announces its commitment with the association “Her Game Too” (“her game too”) which fights against sexism in the stands.
An awareness film will be broadcast this weekend in all Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 stadiums. The players will be accompanied by young girls as they enter the pitch and the fictional kick-offs of the matches will also be given by girls .
“Other actions must be carried out by the clubs and in particular those like Bordeaux and Saint-Étienne with whom we are a partner.” adds Anoush Morel, president of Her Game Too Europe and ambassador of the association for Paris SG.
“The idea is to show that women are supporters like any other, with the same aspirations. There is nothing exceptional about her: she simply loves football. Like a man“, she insists.
To combat the stubborn clichés and sexist violence that accompany the arrival of female supporters at the stadium, Her Game Too, born in the United Kingdom and arriving in Europe in 2022, aims to be a point of contact between clubs and their supporters.
“We have established partnerships with Rennes, Auxerre, Saint-Étienne, Bordeaux and now Toulouse and Troyes. We have ambassadors in other clubs, but not all, we are still developing” specifies Anoush Morel.
The 25th day of Ligue 1 begins on March 8 with Nice-Montpellier and ends on March 10 with Marseille-Nantes.
