Women’s football is gaining popularity around the globe and developing faster than ever before. At the beginning of the year, Kanya Keomany was elected as the first Laotian FIFA council member. She has worked over the years to promote women’s football in Asia as a member of the AFC Women’s Football Committee. This interview hopes to shed more light on the future of women’s football and women working in the football industry. 

As the first Lao member on the FIFA Council, what ideas do you want to see on the table? 

 First of all, it is an absolute honour to be elected as a FIFA Council Member to represent Asian females in one of the biggest sport governing bodies in the world. No matter where I am, my aim  has always been women for women. Developing women’s football is something that I committed  myself to do not only on the pitch but off the pitch as well. I hope to be a voice for women players,  women coaches, referees, administrators, etc. To make their voices heard at all levels of football governing bodies and most importantly, to advocate  social inclusiveness for women in football and make  sure all women are welcome in the football industry. 

  Women’s football in Asia has been a major  part of your work for the last 15 years. What  are the remaining challenges that still have to  be overcome for the sport to develop further? 

   Recently FIFA and AFC have invested a lot in  women’s football development. The popularity of women's football has increased significantly after the latest edition of the Women's World Cup in 2019, France. Nowadays we see more females in football executive positions. Female officials were appointed to officiate at the last FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar, and a lot of media coverage focuses on promoting women football players and coaches. It is a positive sign for women’s football in general. However, there is still room to improve especially in smaller football member associations where women’s football is still unpopular and lacks support. They need the right assistance to strengthen their capacities so that they can compete with bigger national football teams competitively especially on the world’s biggest football stage like the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

How will the new changes to the World Cup format help lesser known football federations such as the AFF?

  The 2023 Women’s World Cup will be the first World Cup to be played with 32 teams in Australia and New Zealand. For AFF, this means more opportunities for ASEAN nations to be in the World Cup. Currently we already have two ASEAN teams that will be making their debut at the World Cup namely Vietnam and the Philippines, while waiting for Thailand to go through the play-off round which will be decided in mid-February. It is inspiring to see smaller national teams there, which means everyone will have the chance to see their national flag at the world’s biggest football tournament. The increasing number of teams in the World Cup finals is a game changer and an important step for women’s game development, the pace will be faster now for women’s football development as everyone is aiming for their spot in the World Cup.