The Athens Women’s Football Summit (AthensWFS) is part of the fight to nurture positive social change and achieve women’s equal footing in football. It is a gathering and organization with the purpose of promoting diversity and true inclusion of women in the sport, building an international consensus around the goals and means to be pursued, and fostering global investment opportunities in women’s football – all while equipping our network with the skills, confidence and contacts that they need to continue pushing forward.

Despite the long and impressive history of women in football … crude stereotypes, ridiculous myths, underinvestment and inane discriminatory policies and regulations have hindered and discouraged women from playing the game.

Women & girls have faced a range of daunting challenges that have prevented them from achieving their potential and reaching the top of their game, including unconscious bias, sexist attitudes, unsafe environments, as well as under-representation in coaching, sports media, ownership and the halls of power.

And yet, courageous pioneering girls and women play on and persevere. Together with their allies they continue to seek out the opportunity and respect they deserve and have promoted the fight for an equal playing field into an explosively evolving global movement where millions of girls and women around the globe play, follow, consume, suffer and rejoice in the Beautiful Game daily.

Women’s football is serious business. This is the bedrock upon which we build, the foundation for our actions. Our call to action of INVEST. EMPOWER. INSPIRE. proclaims our determination to bring the resources needed to make sure players receive the respect and professional environment they need and deserve. It also declares our conviction that women’s football has incredible revenue, sponsorship, marketing and investment potential. CSR is important to the growth of the girl’s and women’s game, but women’s football is not a charity. Solid economic roots, built on the best business practices, are needed to propel the women’s game onto the next level.