Women footballers urged not to copy men’s bad habits

NYON, Switzerland,  (Reuters) – Women’s football is  refreshingly free of the histrionics which blight the men’s game  and must not allow itself to be contaminated by success, UEFA’s  first female executive committee member told Reuters in an  interview.

Karen Espelund said the recent success of the women’s World  Cup won by Japan in Germany, with impressive television ratings,  dramatic matches and sold-out stadiums, had also brought  worrying signs that the sport was losing its sense of fair play.

Three players, all from North Korea, failed doping tests,  there were protests that Equatorial Guinea had fielded a male  player during the African qualifying competition while Brazil  were widely regarded as an exception to the no gamesmanship  approach.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) said at one  stage it would investigate the protests against Equatorial  Guinea, who qualified for the World Cup, but no result was ever  announced.

“In one way, this shows women’s football is getting  attractive in the sense that it’s important to win, to be among  the best,” said Espelund, who was invited on the UEFA executive  committee and took up her place last month.

“On the other hand, it’s a terribly sad development and we  need to stop it before it goes further.”