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FIFA has unveiled its new Female Health and Performance Project, an initiative focused on driving research, education, and tailored support for women footballers across all levels of the sport. The project aims to refine training practices, improve access to health resources, and provide performance strategies specifically designed for female athletes as women’s football continues its rapid global expansion.

About FIFA’s Female Health and Performance Project

The Female Health and Performance Project has been developed to strengthen research and understanding surrounding female athletes, with the intention of offering more personalized support to players throughout their professional journeys.

This initiative seeks to deepen insight into the unique needs of women footballers by considering both individual and environmental factors. It focuses on customizing support mechanisms that enhance the overall health, well-being, and performance of female players.

The project also seeks to address a long-standing imbalance in sports, where training, coaching, and assessment frameworks have historically been created with male athletes as the primary reference point.

The scope of the project includes several essential focus areas such as:

Female physiology, reproductive health, menstrual cycle monitoring, pregnancy and postpartum care, fertility, menopause, pelvic health, nutrition, recovery, sleep, strength and conditioning, as well as screening and profiling.

FIFA’s perspective

“FIFA’s aim is to optimize every female footballer’s health, well-being and performance, and to improve knowledge around women and girls in football at every level of the game,” said Dame Sarai Bareman, FIFA’s Chief Women’s Football Officer.

She further added, “Collectively, we can do so much more to better support our growing number of female players and ensure they are trained, supported and understood according to their specific needs as women.”

Why now?

With the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup on the horizon, FIFA is placing increased emphasis on research and education centred on women’s health and athletic performance.

The 2027 tournament will be the 10th edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, making this initiative a timely and strategic move to ensure that the evolving needs of female athletes remain a top priority.

What lies ahead?

The project is now operational, with all 211 FIFA Member Associations granted access to the programme and its 13 educational modules.