News

Iberdrola and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) met at Iberdrola's Madrid headquarters today to present the start of the Primera Iberdrola, the highest level of competition for women's football in Spain, bringing together the best 16 teams in the country.

The event, held this morning, was attended by players representing all of the clubs competing in the tournament, as well as Iberdrola chairman Ignacio Galán and RFEF president Luis Rubiales, among other authority figures.

During the event, Ignacio Galán, who did the ceremonial kick-off, ratified the company's commitment to women's sport, framing it as part of “our conviction that we need full equality between men and women in all areas of society".

For his part, Luis Rubiales stressed that “women's football is a priority for the RFEF”, saying that “we are now beginning an exciting journey, a real challenge that will give this sport the recognition it deserves. We will work together to make football the preferred sport of Spanish girls and young women within 6 years, make progress in the professionalisation of women's football and fostering youth football, and reach excellence and the utmost quality with our national teams by supporting clubs and players".

The 2019-20 Primera Iberdrola league will start on Saturday 7 September and will end after 30 days of play on 17 May next year (see all fixtures).

The competition, now in its 32nd season, is the most ambitious in history: there have been high-profile signings and we can expect to see some important developments, such as the inclusion of a fourth official, the obligation for participating clubs to have at least three youth teams, and players’ names on shirts. What's more, matches will be broadcast to reach the maximum possible number of viewers, boosting visibility of this sport.

On 1 August, Iberdrola signed an agreement with the RFEF to strengthen its commitment to women's football by sponsoring all competitions in this sport for the next six seasons, until 2024-25.

Iberdrola will therefore lend its name to Spain's highest level of competition, the Primera Iberdrola league, as well as the second division, Reto Iberdrola. The company also sponsors the Copa de la Reina and the Supercopa de España.

Increase in the popularity of women's football

The former Liga Iberdrola, now called Primera Iberdrola, has brought about a notable increase in the popularity of women's football. To give one example, last season, 60,739 spectators were at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium to watch Atlético de Madrid face off against Barcelona. In recent years, over ten men's first division stadiums have opened their doors to hold matches in this competition.

This strengthened collaboration between Iberdrola and the RFEF will also allow them go further with their commitment to transforming the Spanish Women’s Football Team into the first Sustainable Team, to raise awareness of the importance of promoting sustainable development based on renewable energies as a way of fighting climate change.

This agreement with the RFEF comes two weeks after Iberdrola reaffirmed its commitment to the Higher Sports Council (CSD) Women's Universe programme.

Iberdrola and women’s sport, in figures

In 2016, Iberdrola became the first company to make a firm global commitment to encouraging women’s participation in sport as a way of driving equal opportunities.

The company currently supports 16 federations: gymnastics, triathlon, rugby, canoeing, badminton, football, handball, volleyball, hockey, table tennis, athletics, karate, boxing, surfing, ice sports and fencing. Iberdrola also lends its name to 22 national top-tier sports leagues, and over 35 competitions.

The increased contribution of resources like facilities, medical services and officials has not only helped increase the number of federated sportswomen in these 16 disciplines by 32%—up to 316,500—it is also allowing elite Spanish female athletes competing in other countries to come back to Spain, contributing to improving national competitions.

Sport, crucial for promoting equality

Real equality between men and women is one of Iberdrola’s core values. With its commitment to women's sport, the company helps to create new role models for society, to encourage healthy habits at an early age.

Iberdrola drives and disseminates the role of women in sport through other initiatives, like the ‘Women’s Universe Tour’, in collaboration with the Higher Sports Council and the Fundación Deporte Joven, whose purpose is to transmit values like hard work and overcoming, by practising and showing several disciplines and spreading the word about the success of Spanish athletes.

Iberdrola, committed to the SDGs

Iberdrola has fully incorporated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) into its strategy. The goals are part of the 2030 Agenda and were approved by the UN in September 2015.

In line with its activities, Iberdrola focuses its efforts on the provision of affordable and clean energy (Goal 7) and climate action (Goal 13), as well as fulfilling other objectives.

By supporting women in sport, Iberdrola is focusing its efforts on gender equality and female empowerment (Goal 5), health and well-being (Goal 3) and promoting public-private initiatives (Goal 17).