FIFA Master and ‘Women in Sport’ marks International Women’s Day 2026
Sunday 8th March 2026 will be the 115th anniversary of International Women’s Day (IWD). First established in 1911, the day is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. March will also be Women's History Month, again highlighting the important contributions women have made to history and society.
The theme for IWD 2026 is #GiveToGain and the FIFA Master will once again be marking the event, but with a wider ‘Women in Sport’ series during the full month of March.
Since the first edition of the FIFA Master was launched, over 230 female students from around the world have graduated from our programme and are now working in the global sports industry.
We are proud to be able to name Women’s Olympic Rowing Gold Medallist Emma Twigg (15th edition) and UEFA Women’s Champions League Winner, Ami Otaki (17th edition), as well as numerous other elite level female athletes and senior sport business managers among our FIFA Master alumni community. We also have a large number of course graduates – both male and female - working in women’s sport development and equality positions around the world.
This year we are proud to have Léonie Doléac (France), Rita El Idrissi Semlali (Morocco / USA), Bianca Faes Belgrado (Italy), Antonia Landgraf (Germany), Lalaina Auriel Ny Andriantsoa (Madagascar), Ashley Pineda Salgado (USA / Mexico) and Eliú Rodríguez Ochoa (Mexico / USA) as members of the current 26th edition of the FIFA Master.
Look out for various FIFA Master social media posts this month which will be linked to IWD 2026, and also special editions of our ‘Where are they now?’ alumni interview series as we meet up with 9th edition graduate and now Head of Events & Content Strategy at Optimum Sports, Eden Ghebresellassie (Eritrean, Italian, USA), 15th edition graduate and now Senior Legal Counsel for the New Zealand Rugby Players Association, Rebecca Giordano (née Hooper) from New Zealand, 22nd edition graduate and now Language Cluster Coordinator for Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026, Verdiana Ciccone (Italy), 10th edition graduate and now Independent Consultant, Roma Khanna (India), 23rd edition graduate from Turkey, Nihan Cabbaroglu Balaban, who is now Sports Commentator, Sports Marketing Consultant and Director at VolleyVoice (accessible sports initiative) and 24th edition graduate Alice Yoon from South Korea who is now Media Partnerships Sales Manager at FIFA.
The month also presents another chance to read our ‘Women’s Euros and Women’s Rugby World Cup provide an opportunity to reflect for the FIFA Master’ article published by Global Sport.
However, it should be noted that although IWD is only held once a year, the themes of gender equality, women’s sport history, women in sport and female leadership are addressed during the full academic year of the FIFA Master and within all modules of the course held in Leicester, Milan and Neuchâtel.
#IWD2026 #GiveToGain #WomenInSport #WomensHistoryMonth
