Concacaf, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and Canada Soccer have held a Women in Football Leadership Knowledge Exchange in Montreal, a session relevant to institute professionals as sporting bodies face increasing pressure to formalise governance and leadership development rather than treat diversity as a standalone initiative.

FAI is the national governing body for football in Ireland, targeting turnover above 50 million euro and operating under a Sport Ireland mandated requirement for 40 per cent female board representation. FAI chief operating officer Christina Kenny led a session on leading transformational change within football organisations.

Concacaf is one of FIFA's six continental confederations, representing 41 member associations across North America, Central America and the Caribbean, with offices in Miami, Guatemala City and Kingston. It facilitated a panel on mentorship and inclusive culture through its Women's Football Development Supervisor.

Canada Soccer is the governing body for football in Canada, headquartered in Ottawa and a founding member of Concacaf since 1961, overseeing the men's and women's national teams alongside youth, Paralympic and beach soccer programmes. It hosted the exchange in association with the UEFA Together Programme.

The exchange reflects a wider structural shift in how national sporting associations are funded and governed rather than a one-off training day.

Irish government funding to FAI was previously delayed over governance concerns, with ministers confirming the association's commitment to the 40 per cent female board representation requirement applied to all national governing bodies, according to RTE. Comparable governance and diversity conditions attached to public and confederation funding are becoming standard across national sporting associations internationally, not unique to Ireland.

For the sector, formal knowledge exchanges between national associations and continental confederations signal that leadership development is being treated as core governance infrastructure rather than optional programming. For institute and association professionals more broadly, the model of pairing operational leaders with peer organisations offers a transferable approach to meeting funder driven governance expectations.

Women's participation in Irish football has grown substantially in recent years, part of a broader trend UEFA and Concacaf are both citing as justification for deeper cross confederation collaboration on leadership pathways.

Whether such exchanges translate into measurable governance improvement, rather than goodwill between associations, will determine how far this model spreads beyond football into other membership sectors facing similar funder scrutiny.

Source: Concacaf / RTE