In November, the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) once again demonstrated its efforts to continuously develop women's football and increase its popularity. At its headquarters in Bangkok, the association organised a two-day workshop on Women's Club Licensing and Capacity-Building for Administrators, aimed at 26 club representatives and coaches.

It is a commitment that Simon Toselli, technical expert for women's football at FIFA has praised.

"I have to admire the organisation of the Football Association of Thailand's activities. Not only this time, but throughout the last two years that FIFA has been supporting the member association with many different programmes: Club licensing, League Development (creation of a U-16 & U-17 competition), Women’s Football Campaign, Capacity Building for Administrators. FIFA also recognised the impact of the FAT's work by featuring images of some of these activities on-screen at the FIFA Women's Football Convention in Sydney in August."

For FAT, it is essential to drive development at club level and raise the standard of clubs and leagues in Thai women's football.

During the workshop, a behind-the-scenes look at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™ and the AFC Women's Champions League was taken, including how to set an appropriate budget for women's football. The workshop participants also visited first division club BG Pathum United, which offered the opportunity to scrutinise a high-ranking club structure with a clearly defined strategy.

“It has been a true pleasure working with the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) on establishing and implementing their club licensing system for their women’s league," says FIFA Consultant Andres Portabella. "I believe workshops like the one organised by FAT this week in collaboration with FIFA play a crucial role in the continuous development of the women’s football clubs in Thailand.”

The workshop on Capacity-Building for Administrators on the second day was tailored to the needs of the clubs and focussed on equipping participants with the necessary knowledge and training to facilitate their daily work in the clubs. It covered a range of topics, such as sponsorship in football and strengthening a global network of women's football staff off the pitch. "For the FAT, it is essential to drive development at club level and raise the standard of clubs and leagues in Thai women's football," said Toselli. "The workshop on Capacity-Building for Administrators on the second day covered a range of topics, such as: Importance of having a strategy, Grassroots Development, Safeguarding, Sponsorship in football and strengthening a global network of Women's football staff off the pitch."

Concluding the week of activities, the FAT also organised a women's football event in the province of Ubon Ratchathani in the north of the country, introducing young girls to football and thus attracting new players to grassroots youth football. 240 girls aged between six and 14 from clubs and the community took part enthusiastically. The girls were not only offered the opportunity to experience football up close but were also able to familiarise themselves with key topics such as health, nutrition and children's rights. The FAT have organised six such events - under the banner of the FIFA Women's Campaign development programme - in 2023 alone with the aim of further developing football at grassroots level. In turn, this expanded player pool, and structured player pathway will support the Thai women's national team in future, who will be able to build on these stronger foundations.