NYON, Switzerland, (Reuters) – Women’s football is refreshingly free of the histrionics which blight the men’s game and must not allow itself to be contaminated by success, UEFA’s first female executive committee member told Reuters in an interview.
Karen Espelund said the recent success of the women’s World Cup won by Japan in Germany, with impressive television ratings, dramatic matches and sold-out stadiums, had also brought worrying signs that the sport was losing its sense of fair play.
Three players, all from North Korea, failed doping tests, there were protests that Equatorial Guinea had fielded a male player during the African qualifying competition while Brazil were widely regarded as an exception to the no gamesmanship approach.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) said at one stage it would investigate the protests against Equatorial Guinea, who qualified for the World Cup, but no result was ever announced.
“In one way, this shows women’s football is getting attractive in the sense that it’s important to win, to be among the best,” said Espelund, who was invited on the UEFA executive committee and took up her place last month.
“On the other hand, it’s a terribly sad development and we need to stop it before it goes further.”