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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) conducted a visit to Bhutan as part of the AFC Women’s Assistance Programme (WAP) from October 7-10 to assess the progress made by the Bhutan Football Federation (BFF) in women’s football in the last decade.
During the visit, the AFC delegation, led by the AFC Head of Women’s Football Bai Lili, met officials of the BFF where the latter enumerated the activities that had been undertaken for strengthening the landscape of women’s football in the country since the last WAP visit.
The AFC team was pleased to note that significant progress had been made by the Federation with the number of registered women footballers increasing ten times, marking a jump from 1000 players in 2013 to over 10,000 today.
Besides the increase, the BFF’s achievements also include the setting up of a girl’s academy in 2015, to which the AFC team paid a visit during the four-day long inspection.
Since its establishment, the academy has been the source for most of the players that feature in the country’s national teams and clubs. Moreover, a senior women’s league with nine participating teams was also launched earlier this year.
The AFC team also got the opportunity to watch practice sessions and league matches after which the AFC Women’s Football Head personally interacted with the coaches and girls to gauge their requirements.
The AFC delegation, accompanied by the BFF General Secretary Ugyen Wangchhuk, met with members of the BFF Technical Department, such as the Technical Director, the Head of Women’s Football, the Head of Amateur football, the Grassroots Football Manager, and the Head of Futsal. The two parties discussed future plans and strategies for the upliftment of women’s football in the region.
Speaking of the experience, the BFF Assistant Head of Women’s football, Pema Tshering said, “We are very grateful to the AFC for their support, and for sharing their knowledge and expertise with us.
“I hope the Women’s Department will be able to bring to fruition the goals and priorities recommended by the AFC team to bring women’s football in our country to greater heights.”
