Vanda underlines importance of women

 Vanda Sigurgeirsdóttir, recently re-elected as the Icelandic Football Association president, underlines the importance of women adopting roles across the football community – from referees and coaches to administrators and volunteers.

Vanda Sigurgeirsdóttir with the Trailblazers portrait from Iceland at  UEFA HQ in  Switzerland

Inspiring more women to take up roles as coaches, referees and administrators is critical to securing a sustainable future for the female game, says Vanda Sigurgeirsdóttir, the president of the Icelandic Football Association (KSÍ).

"Women’s voices must be heard at all levels of European football," said Ms Sigurgeirsdóttir, a former national team player and coach, who last month was elected for a second successive term as KSÍ president.

Ms Sigurgeirsdóttir also played for and coached Iceland's national women's team

The KSÍ plays a pioneering role in setting new standards for women’s football in Europe. It is currently the only national association with two women at the helm – Ms Sigurgeirsdóttir and Klara Bjartmarz (general secretary since 2015), while one third of Iceland’s registered players are female. However, the ratio is significantly lower for other roles in the footballing community.

"We need to change this and encourage women to join the football community," said Ms. Sigurgeirsdóttir, during a visit to UEFA’s House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.

The KSÍ has launched a ‘Women in Football’ initiative to encourage more Icelandic girls and women to get involved in football as coaches, referees, as employees or volunteers.

Trailblazers art exhibition

WEURO Trailblazers: Iceland

During her visit to UEFA headquarters to meet president Aleksander Čeferin, Ms Sigurgeirsdóttir took time to visit the Trailblazers exhibition which was unveiled last week and showcases European artists given a blank canvas to celebrate their nation’s qualification for this summer’s UEFA Women’s EURO 2022.

Icelandic artist Ninna Thorarinsdottir's painting was inspired by the colourful shirts of former Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos. “The patterns are just like him in action, bouncing around the goal, you just see streaks of colours," said Ms Thorarinsdottir.