In 1986, Ellen Wille was furious with FIFA, the organization that oversees football worldwide. At the time, she served on the executive committee of the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) and had just received a Fifa report that contained no mention of women’s football.
The Oslo science teacher would take matters into her own hands and make a speech that would make the top Fifa officials pay attention.
The impact the speech had on women’s football’s future has been examined by World Service’s World Football program.
Globally, female football players faced tremendous opposition and fought numerous fights for recognition.
In England, the Football Association had lifted a five-decade ban on women’s football at the beginning of the 1970s.
In 1970, Italy hosted the first unofficial Women’s World Cup, and a year later, Mexico hosted another unofficial worldwide tournament that drew crowds of over 100,000 people. However, Fifa did not support any of those events.
Wille, an amateur football player herself, joined the NFF in 1976, the year women’s football was officially sanctioned in the nation, and she was unwilling to settle for the status quo.
