It is indeed striking that archaeological findings indicate that a game similar to soccer was played by women in Ancient China some hundreds of years BC. However, in Europe, and in Britain in particular, the earliest evidence dates women's football back to the end of the 18th century, while the first officially recorded match between women's teams took place in 1892. In 1921, however, the English Football Association, following the rapid rise in popularity of women's football in the early years after the First World War, stopped supporting it, specifically stating that the sport "is unsuitable for women and therefore should not be encouraged"! This implicit but official marginalisation, which prevented women footballers from using the facilities of the federation and its member teams, lasted a full fifty years. Its abolition only in 1971 seems to have been the beginning of a dynamic march towards equality towards and within the world's most popular sport.
The claim began to bear fruit of vindication in women's sport and championship internationally. The first FIFA Women's World Cup took place in China in 1991 and since then women's football has not stopped winning fans and players alike. Too many women's leagues around the world are now professional, and it is telling that the 2019 World Cup final was watched by more than a billion people around the globe.
Tonight we are witnessing the continuation of that self-evident 1971 abolition of sports discrimination. It was therefore with great pleasure that I accepted the invitation of the Pancyprian Footballers' Association to welcome the presentation of the very important FIFPRO Merit Award to the Cyprus Women's National Team, an award presented by the World Federation of Professional Footballers to teams and groups for their selfless service to society. The award to the Cypriot women footballers in the "Player Voice" category for claiming the right, from 2019, to have the same training conditions, allowances and equipment as the men's national team fills us with emotion and pride. I am also delighted to be present at the launch night of the PASP's campaign for gender equality, which I am sure we will all watch with great interest.
In Cyprus, the creation of the women's league around the late 1990s was certainly a huge step towards opening up and modernising an admittedly male-dominated area and sport. My congratulations therefore to the Cypriot women footballers are twofold: for the international award and the glorious honour bestowed on you, which you bring to our country through your effort and ethos, and for the fight you put up, not only on the pitch every season, but especially off it. Although in this day and age it is easier for women to claim what is a self-evident right for the male population than it was for your English teammates of the last century, surely the road to sporting gender equality, which is not only the obligation of women but of society as a whole, is still a long one. And of course I should note that I am personally aware of many of the challenges and problems you continue to face, some of which are totally unacceptable, unequal and totally incompatible with equality, equal opportunities and full respect for dignity and human rights.
I also offer many congratulations to the PASP, which demonstrates through its action and the organisation of tonight's event and initiative that it accepts with respect and self-respect this role, the role of promoting and strengthening equality in practice. Sports know no gender and the desire for fair play is no one's prerogative. What the English-speakers call 'for the love of the game', in this case the excitement of the kick-off and the goal, the joy of teamwork, the sharing of the turf, are the rights of every girl, every teenager, every woman. And it is the duty of every official body to safeguard these rights, protecting our female athletes from discrimination and prejudice.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to assure you that the House of Representatives and I personally are always on the side of institutions working for gender equality and welcome any action that adds an important stone to this timeless and fundamental struggle for every society and humanity in general.
Thank you.
IK
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