Surprised you haven't heard about FIFA women's world cup? It's because they are female athletes

We are currently in the midst of a World Cup. A week has already passed and the tournament has reached the quarter final stage. If you think you haven’t heard of it because the World Cup features an obscure sport played by a handful of countries, then no you are wrong. A qualification tournament between 134 nations was held for the 24 slots available to compete in this edition of the World Cup. This is the Football World Cup.

Surprised you still don’t know about it? Maybe because it features female athletes and not male.

[caption id=“attachment_2299290” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  United States midfielder Megan Rapinoe (15) slide tackles in front of Nigeria midfielder Evelyn Nwabuoku (14) and forward Ngozi Okobi (13). Reuters[/caption]

A lot of people argue that women’s sports that are identical to men’s sports will never be popular, because men are faster, stronger and more athletic. While this might be true to a certain extent what is also true is that perceptions are constructed and created. Most sports organizations are run by men. Most sports fans are also men. And the reality is that most of these men are genuinely not interested in watching women athletes compete. Well atleast not in the current avatar in which they compete.

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Football’s “God father” President of FIFA (1998-2015), Sepp Blatter in 2004 went to the extent to suggest that if the female players wore shorter tighter clothes, women’s football would become more popular. “Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball. They could, for example, have tighter shorts. Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so. We need to create a more female aesthetic, so why not do it in fashion?”

When the custodians of the game itself have such an attitude towards the sport it is not surprising that their belief gets reflected in the way they treat women’s sport.

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Cheryl Cooky, Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Purdue feels that it is the men controlling sports broadcasting that actually makes women’s sport seem a lot less exciting than they really are. “A lot of our perceptions of how interesting women’s sports are come from the media itself. Men’s sports are going to seem more exciting because they have higher production values, higher-quality coverage, and higher-quality commentary … When you watch women’s sports, and there are fewer camera angles, fewer cuts to shot, fewer instant replays, yeah, it’s going to seem to be a slower game, and  it’s going to seem to be less exciting.”

While the solutions to this issue is extremely complex and requires cultural shifts and changes in the way sports are run, what we can do at an individual level is to start viewing men and women playing the same sport differently. Understand the subtle differences in the way the two sexes approach the same sport. Juhi Shah, an ex Football player from Mumbai and a current referee has similar thoughts.

“Women’s football is totally different than the men’s game. The way they play, their skill sets are very different and one should be able to appreciate them. I hate the fact that there is so much comparison between men’s and women’s football. The sport maybe the same but the style is completely different.” The comparison between men and women playing the same sport is only unfair and in turn becomes detrimental to the development of the women’s team.

Maybe this lack of comparison is a reason why women’s Football has flourished in the USA. Neha S Contractor a sports professional, living in Washington D.C mentions “Yes, there is a lot of buzz in the US around the Women’s World Cup. I think the main reason for this is because the major broadcasting networks cover the matches and show highlights throughout the tournament. All the major newspapers in the major cities are following the women’s team. In addition, the major broadcasting networks such as ESPN, FoxSports1, NBC, CBS, etc. are showing highlights throughout. Fans will begin to know the players as the team plays throughout the tournament, interest builds up, and more tune into the game. Most importantly kids become interested, route for a favorite player and start playing the game.”

And this effect is felt on ground. Tanvi Bhargava, a football player from Chandigarh is currently studying at Claremont McKenna College in Los Angeles “I definitely did see a difference in attitudes towards women footballers in India vs those in the USA. There is a very different atmosphere.”

Back home in India girls who play Football are craving for this atmosphere that Tanvi gets to experience. Mallika Arya, who played Football for Lady Shri Ram College till date remembers how a group of boys snubbed her, “I still remember vividly, I was playing at Siri fort and we didn’t have enough players that day, there was another group playing - they asked my male friends to join them but said they didn’t want a girl to play with them - I have never been more offended.” And it is for these girls that the FIFA Woman’s World Cup becomes critical. It is their way to show society that Football is not just a boys sport. Anushka Kapur, a football player from Delhi Public School laments how “If you ask any football fan they could name 100 male soccer players but won’t even be able to name 10 women players. I hope events like the FIFA Women’s World Cup can change that.”

Nancy Gupta, former captain of the Delhi university Football team is spending all her time and energy these days in urging people to atleast check out the World Cup “I am personally requesting all to check out the top goals in women’s world cup. It will leave them mesmerized and shocked at the same time. These girls are giving spectacular performances. It is unfortunate that so many fans of the game miss it.”

And it is not just the women who have been mesmerized by the quality of play on display.

Shail Vaidya a former Gujarat state player and an ex employee of the Oman Football Association mentions how “The Costa Rica vs Spain game was an absolutely scintillating match! It was one of the better matches I’ve watched across the board of men’s and women’s football and it was between two teams playing their first world cup! Despite everything like the surface, these women are producing some great football. There’s been fancy flicks, half volleys, thunderous long range strikes and acrobatic saves, so plenty of on field entertainment. More importantly, I’ve yet to see a player dive, time waste unfairly or play act. There are also fewer yellow cards, sending offs and no scuffles between players.”

Men’s and women’s Football may be the same game, but they don’t have to be played identically to be appreciated.

It’s not as if the female players are demanding the same salaries, endorsement deals or fanatical fan following as the men get. They just want to play. And that is why the FIFA women’s world cup has great value and you should know about it. It is inspirational to young women all over India. It gives them something critical: Self belief.