The “Female Edition” of the “Future Leaders in Football” workshop is in full flow in the Qatar capital of Doha. Since Thursday, In close cooperation with the Qatar Football Association (QFA), the Qatar Foundation, and Generation Amazing, one of the programmes of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, 20 young women from the Middle East have been taking part in events under the motto “Developing Skills to Tackle Challenges in Sport and Society”. As was the case with the two previous editions, in addition to MBZ and the German Society for International Cooperation (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ), the initiative will be strongly supported by the German national team’s foundation “Wir für euch” (We are for you) and DFB partner Volkswagen with their “Women playing football” campaign. #KeinFrauenfußball” are campaigning for greater equality in football and society.
Corinna Griese, who is not only the B2B business owner at Volkswagen AG, but also has vast experience in football, will be the German representative at the workshop. First as a goalkeeper between the sticks for Eintracht Braunschweig, then when injury brought an early end to her career, she became goalkeeping coach and team manager of the women’s first team at the club, as well as the head coach of the second team. This was then followed up by a move to the strategic side of things, first as the director of girls’ and women’s football and now she has been chairwoman of the football department at Eintracht Braunschweig for the last year and a half. Griese combines two important aspects in her experience on the management side of football and the playing side of it all. Moreover, she is an active member of #WeDriveProud and the friends network at VW.
Griese: “I’m so pleased to be a part of it”
“The highlight of the event for me is its collectivity. It’s a collection of people from the most diverse countries here. You can feel that it’s a matter of the heart for all those involved,” said Griese. She wants to, above all, speak about diversity and women in positions of leadership: “We are committed to diversity at VW and try to bring that commitment to life. It’s not just meant to be a publicity stunt. In order to establish these ideas in a sustainable way, you need excellent events like FLF. It’s something I’m really happy to be a part of.”
Griese is impressed that VW and DFB are getting together on these issues: “We are in close contact and we’re in great agreement over the content and our approach. We also analysed the previous events and discussed what went well and where there was still room for improvement. We have a strong, reliable contact in the DFB who want to go in the same direction as us. There are also lots of women in leadership positions – I like that.”
Griese will have the opportunity to present her point of view during discussions on Sunday. “We will discuss which challenges arise where. Is it more difficult for women to lead in the office or in football itself? The is the fundamental question we will try to come to terms with.” She is driven to give young, female leaders self-confidence. “If we can do that with just one or two women, then it will already be worth it,” Griese emphasised. She wants to take new perspectives and ways of thinking away with her: “The mutual exchange and the learning from one another fascinate me. Even though we come from different parts of the world, there are some parallels. First of all, we are all women and unfortunately women are not valued everywhere in football.”