A report from the UAX Rafa Nadal School of Sport, which was presented this Thursday at the headquarters of the Higher Sports Council, has revealed which are the keys to promoting women’s leadership in the management of sports entities.
Said report, which analyzes the opinion of women directly related to the sports management of organizations, federations and sports clubs on different aspects of their professional career, to know the challenges, opportunities and main tools to promote the presence of women in management positions in the sports industry have placed specific training, the promotion of vocations among young women and equal opportunities, among the main tools to increase the presence of women in management positions in the sports industry since currently, the 35% of the seats on the boards of directors of the national federations are occupied by women, and only two preside one of the 65 federations belonging to the CSD.
A partnership project
During the presentation, Maribel Nadal (Marketing Director of the Rafa Nadal Academy), Barbara Fuertes (Deputy Director of Women and Sport of the CSD), marisol married (President of the International Triathlon Federation and IOC member) and Marian Otamendi (director of the World Football Summit) have discussed the conclusions of that report.
“In a society without glass ceilings, public intervention would not be necessary. The main objective is that equality is internalized as something natural, so that this public intervention is not necessary. The quota system, for example, of women on boards of directors of Federations, allows the progressive internalization of equality between women and men, and the subsequent elimination of the barriers that exist in managerial and management positions”, commented Bárbara Fuertes, who added that “if we are not optimistic with reality we will not be able to make progress, This is not a women’s project, it is a society project”.
“At the Rafa Nadal Academy we are very clear about how important academic training is before and during to always be up to date. And learn a lot from the experts around you. It is something we believe in and that is why the UAX Rafa Nadal School of Sport project is also so important to us. Because without a university education, the path to the goal is always more difficult”, Maribel Nadal commented on the importance of training and, above all, promoting it, since in the 2022/23 academic year, only 24.4% of the students on master’s degrees in sports management and management were women.
“We are going to be a feminist CSD”
Also present at the event was Víctor Francos, Secretary of State for Sport and President of the CSD, who stated that will be in charge of a “feminist CSD”.
“You have to know reality to be able to transform it, we need studies, to know where we are, where we can go. We are going to be a feminist CSD and now more than ever we are going to be a Higher Sports Council in defense of women and men “Francos said.