FIFA Women confident they can drive change

While FIFA is in the midst of a crisis, committee members from world football’s governing body are quietly viewing the situation as a wonderful opportunity for change.

The 21 people who make up FIFA's Committee for Women's Football and the Women's World Cup are comprised of just two men and 19 women, which may come as a surprise to many.

They have been meeting in Vancouver ahead of the start of the Canada 2015 Women's World Cup and they are an extraordinary, strong-willed and ambitious group of football administrators.

Of the 209 Football Associations that are affiliated to FIFA, two are led by women. President of the Sierra Leone FA, Isha Johansen, is one of them and while she never set out to land the role she now sees an opportunity for reform and change at FIFA.

She wants to see more women lead football associations and also wants to see greater female representation within FIFA.

The all-powerful 27-strong FIFA Executive Committee had its first female member voted on in 2013 and two others have subsequently been co-opted but Johansen feels that's not enough.

She told Sky Sports News HQ: "This is a moment for change yes, but women must do this on merit, we must prove what we can do. I'm not in favour of quotas; it must be that we are the best for the job.

"I've been bullied, but I now have confidence that I can change things and the men know the women are coming."

Lydia Nsekera was the first women to join FIFA's executive committee and also chairs FIFA's Committee for Women's Football. She has been the model of diplomacy in Vancouver and speaking in French via an interpreter she simply said "it is a time for change."

A colleague who is not a FIFA ExCo member is Tatjana Haenni, who heads up women's football development at FIFA.

She went a little further when I asked her at a news conference whether she believed enough women were in senior roles at FIFA and whether reform would now come.

"Personally there are not enough women in administration roles, but don't confuse women's football with women working within football,” she said. “For both, there is lots still to do."

I saw a member of the at times controlling FIFA press bureau panic at the word 'personally', but Haenni wanted to make a point and she did. She didn't just sit there and say 'I work for FIFA and everything is fine', she had the conviction to say while wearing her FIFA blazer that FIFA wasn't doing a good enough job to allow women to thrive and contribute within senior roles at the organisation. 

The women I have spoken with here feel that the extraordinary events of the past week or so means their influence and their skills can be used to a greater extent than just guiding the future of women's football. They can guide football's governing body at all levels.