SIGA
Women take centre stage at SIGA Leadership Event
When it comes to making a difference on sporting integrity, powerful voices across the gender divide must be heard.
In a world where sports boardrooms often resemble exclusive boys’ clubs, SIGA’s Women’s Leadership Forum in Porto, Portugal, aimed to take a sledgehammer to the glass ceiling. The event, held at the iconic Estádio do Dragão, home to FC Porto, brought together a powerful cast of female leaders and advocates for gender equity, and as a media partner we went along to get the feel in the room.
While there was no shortage of inspirational speeches and panel discussions – and even a short emotional advert that tugged at the heartstrings – the event carried with it a clear and positive call to action for anyone who believes in equality at the leadership level and beyond.
From New York to Porto: SIGA provides stage for gender equity
Following its successful run in New York, the Women’s Leadership Forum made its European debut with a bang. But this wasn’t just a change of scenery – it was the continuation of the organisation’s unwavering commitment to tackling gender disparity in sports leadership. Appropriately, SIGA’s new CEO, Julie Gülsev Kassap, spearheaded the day’s events, from unveiling the latest edition of the #SIGAWomen Manifesto to announcing future expansion plans for the programme.
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, global CEO of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance, also played a huge part in the day, relating to men in his opening remarks that he was a son, grandson, husband, brother and father to inspirational women, young and old.
Of course, no leadership forum would be complete without addressing the elephant in the room: sports boardrooms that are still dominated by men. And SIGA didn’t shy away from this reality. The forum opened with a presentation of its 2024 survey on female representation in the highest echelons of international sports federations. The results? Let’s just say there’s a long way to go – with football’s governing body FIFA lagging well behind others – but at least the conversation is no longer being swept under the synthetic turf.
How women in sport are changing the game (literally)
The first panel session, titled ‘How is the rise of women’s sport improving sports governance and changing the game for women and girls,’ laid out a compelling argument. The panel featured President of Liga F, Beatriz Álvarez, Helena Pires, Executive Director of Liga Portugal, Alexandrina Cruz, President of Rio Ave FC and professional player Matilde Fidalgo, who represents Famalicão and is an ambassador for social change .
Expertly moderated by CNN’s Diana Bouça-Nova, their message was clear: women’s sport is not just about expanding opportunities on the field; it’s about redefining governance structures off the field, too. The lively debate on the panel ranged from improving the visibility of women’s sports to the practical steps needed for systemic change in governance.
Mentorship as a secret weapon for gender equity
The day’s second major panel, moderated by our very own Reem Abdalazem – an Olympian herself who wrote a recent article ‘The Mindset Behind Success‘ – was called ‘Force Multipliers: Leveraging Mentorship for Gender Equity and Sustained Success.’
Here the panel zeroed in on the power of mentorship and included speakers Michelle Evans from EPIC Global Solutions, Adeola Adesoba, Cybersecurity AI Solutions Architect at NVIDIA, and Susana Feitor, President of the Portuguese Sports Foundation. The session highlighted how mentorship can be a game-changer for women navigating the complex (and often unwelcoming) world of sports leadership.
As Evans succinctly put it, “Integrity is not what you do in front of others, it’s what you do when you know there’s nobody watching.” Feitor, who appeared in five Olympic Games in race-walking between 1992 and 2008, drew much of her advice from her lived experiences. There were plenty of smiles in the audience from this enjoyable discussion, but the main point was serious: mentorship is not just a buzzword; it’s a tangible strategy for advancing women in sports leadership roles. It’s for this reason that SIGA’s Women Global Mentorship programme exists.
A future written by women, for everyone
Olympic gymnast Filipa Martins and Cristina Gonçalves, who won gold at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, were announced as the latest SIGA Champions, and although unable to be there in person had video messages for the audience while their representatives took to the stage.
Other sessions included a focus on the importance of brands to promote and market women’s sport and how a domino effect can be created with sport learning from other sectors. There was also a video-linked, cross-Atlantic fireside chat between SIGA’s co-founder and Shelley Zalis, founder and CEO of The Female Quotient. The latter is described as a ‘Chief Troublemaker’ and within the friendly but sometimes intense exchange she admitted that despite calls for her to get into politics, she is making much more of a difference working directly with the biggest companies in the United States to exact change. “Flip it in five,” she said, pushing an ambitious call to arms.
To cap off the event, Kassap and Macedo de Medeiros, took to the stage again to present the 2024 edition of The SIGA Women Manifesto. The passion was clear for everyone to see, with continued efforts called for in pushing for gender equity, and with an emphasis that this was not just a ‘women’s issue,’ but an issue for everyone invested in the future of sport.
The event wrapped up with SIGA’s Special Recognition Award, honouring the aforementioned Gonçalves.
Why Porto and why now?
Choosing Porto as the location for this event was no accident. The city, known for its rich sporting heritage, provided the perfect backdrop for a forum focused on sports governance. Moreover, with high-profile figures like FC Porto President Andres Villas-Boas and Portugal’s Minister of Youth and Modernization Margarida Balseiro Lopes in attendance, the event had the local gravitas needed to amplify its global message.
In his opening remarks, VIllas Boas welcomed those in attendance to his club’s stadium and delivered an impassioned speech as the club launched their first women’s team, which had been presented to fans in front of over 30,000 spectators.
“It is a sustained step on our part, with internal responsibility, because members demand winning projects, and also external responsibility, as we are a flagship,” he said. “The staff of the FC Porto group is moving towards parity, with 47 percent being women. The recruitment policy, as well as treatment, is equal and indifferent between genders. At the management level, the steps have also been firm. In the FC Porto Superior Council, there is parity between men and women.
“We now want to attract more female fans to become members, in order to increase the 35 percent of female members to get closer and closer to the number of male members.”
The forum marked a major milestone in the ongoing efforts to make sports leadership a more inclusive space. And if the energy from Porto is anything to go by, the future of sports might just look a little more female, and a whole lot more fair. In the end, one thing was abundantly clear: women weren’t just at the table - they were leading the conversation, and in doing so, changing the game for good.