NYON: Women’s football will be given 20pc more funding from European federation UEFA from 2020 to try to make it Europe’s biggest female sport.

An extra €2.75m will be available for women’s football projects per year, funded by profits from the men’s European Championship.

UEFA also plans to increase the number of qualified female coaches.

President Aleksander Ceferin said: “The potential for women’s football is limitless. Increasing the participation and the role of women in football has been one of my main objectives, both before and after I became president.”

UEFA said the new financial commitment was part of its pledge to support the #whatif campaign set up by Women In Football, a “network of professional women in and around the football industry”.

The campaign encourages people and organisations to make changes that can help to empower women and girls.

All 55 member associations will receive €150,000 a year for women’s football, up from €100,000.

A scheme also set to benefit from the increased funding is a Women’s Football Leadership Programme, which helps women develop their self-awareness and decision-making roles within the sport.

Last week, world governing body FIFA announced a strategy to double women’s participation in the sport to 60m by 2026.

This all follows a successful 2017 Women’s European Championship in Holland which was watched by a record live TV audience of 178 million fans worldwide and a best-ever total of 240,045 fans at the games.

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