‘Winning helps’: World Cup journey boosts women’s football revival in Italy
In 2015, a senior Italian football official dismissed female players as a "bunch of lesbians". Felice Belloli, who was speaking during a meeting to discuss funding in women's football, was forced to resign as head of the National Amateur League after his comments unleashed a torrent of criticism in Italy and beyond.
Coupled with the national team's fourth consecutive failure to reach a World Cup finals which got underway in Canada a few weeks later, the episode signalled the lowest ebb for women's football in a country where in the 1970s and 80s it had enjoyed increasing popularity. But it also marked a turning point after propelling Milena Bertolini, the current coach of the women's national team, to put her head above the parapet. Bertolini, who at the time was president of the Reggio Emilia Foundation of Sport, edited a book called "Giocare con le tette" ("Playing with tits"). The bold title caused embarrassment and the book was mostly ignored by the media, but its publication in the wake of the debacle broke the silence on sexism within football, forcing the higher echelons of the Italian Football Federation (Figc) to take note, while challenging stereotypes across wider Italian society.
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