Foundation pledges to support women in sporting activities

By Aderonke Ojo

Fame Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation, has pledged to give support to women in the sports sector so as to encourage their participation in sporting activities.

The organisation made the pledge at its fourth edition of Annual Women and Sports Dialogue, in commemoration of the International Women’s Month, on Saturday at the Moshood Abiola National stadium in Abuja.

Speaking at the occasion, Aderonke Ogunleye-Bello, Founder of the fame foundation, said the 2023 event, with the theme ‘developing a viable commercial and impactful blueprint for women football development’, was aimed to mentor women athletes.

In addition, Ogunleye-Bello said it was also a preparation ahead of the FIFA women’s World Cup, set to be co- hosted by Australia and New Zealand in July.

“We have retired athletes that have shared their experience, mistakes and those that have achieved a lot in their fields of careers.

“We have sport governance, academia, gathering of academics and experts panelists, technocrats and advocates in different fields addressing the issues bothering on women’s athletes.

“And also to explore the efficacy of inclusion, equality, equity, integrity, accountability, empowerment and sustainability,” she said.

She said the blueprint draft of the panel and speeches will be made available as resources for educational, implementation and research purposes.

“The panel discussed how sports can be used as a tool for gender equality and how to develop a viable commercial blueprint for women’s football ahead of the FIFA women’s World Cup ( FWWC), from July 10 to Aug. 20,” she said.

Also speaking, Leann Johnston, Charge d’ affaires, Australian High commissioner, Abuja, said that she was delighted to support the fame foundation and to promote the important role of sport in gender equality.

According to her, sports is an area which has been historically dominated by men and in which women have been marginalised both in terms of their visibility at a professional level and in their grassroots participation.

She said like many countries, Nigeria still had a lot of work to do in terms of women’s participation in sports, politics and many other domains.

“Australia is committed to promoting gender equality and to ensuring that women have equal rights and an equal ability to flourish.

“We are delighted to see that balance is shifting and that women’s sport is beginning to receive the publicity, the financial support, and the respect that it deserves,” she said.

She said Australia was delighted to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup (FWWC) and it is committed to ensuring that the tournament promotes gender equality through harnessing the power of sport to promote women.

“The FWWC is the largest women’s sporting event, in which Australia and New Zealand will co-host from July 10 to  Aug. 20.

“We are excited to welcome Nigeria to Australia for the tournament and we are looking forward to the group match between Australia and Nigeria on July 27 in Brisbane,” she said.

On his part, Alhassan Yakmut, a former Director-General, National Sports Commission, said there was the need to develop a viable commercial blueprint for women football in Nigeria.

This, he said, was a critical step toward establishing gender equality in sports for the growth in women’s football in the country.

“To achieve this, we must concentrate on gaining more media attention, securing sponsorship, and extensive interaction with fans.

“It is crucial that we keep working to give women in sports an even playing field and give them the same chances and recognition as their male counterparts,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report that Fame foundation is a gender-based non-profit making organisation, established solely to solicit, encourage and advance the social and emotional well-being of women and girls.

It is also designed to formulate programmes within the framework of the national development plan to enhance the participation of women and advocate for gender parity in society.

(NAN)