Women's sport

Promoting equality through sport

The Iberdrola Group has been promoting women and girls from all over the world in the field of sport since 2016. They break records, overcome new challenges and, with everyone's support, they are unstoppable.

One of our core values at Iberdrola is to serve as an inclusive force, using our energy and talent to foster diversity and fight social inequalities. Supporting women's sport is not only essential to advance gender equality, but also to give the world's women and girls the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, strength and determination. 

In 2016, for the first time, Iberdrola championed its support for women's sport as part of our social commitment. In 2022, we reinforced our support for women and sport, doubling the number of sportswomen reached by our support in Spain: from 300,000 to more than 600,000. In Brazil, as of 2021, we were the first exclusive sponsor of women's football through our subsidiary Neoenergia, and in the United Kingdom we will sponsor women's football as of 2023 with our subsidiary Scottish Power. As a result, the Iberdrola Group now supports more than 100 competitions and our momentum has become unstoppable.

Our numbers in women's sport in 2024

Iberdrola's global commitment to women's sport

Iberdrola was the first company to make a global commitment to promoting the participation of women in sports under the same conditions as men. We promote participation at all levels and in dozens of sports, both mainstream and minority, although it is probably in football where our impact can best be seen.

In both Spain and Brazil, Iberdrola is the main partner-sponsor of the women's national senior national football team. In Spain, Iberdrola is also the main sponsor of all youth categories, the senior national indoor and beach football team, the Copa de la Reina and the Supercopa Iberdrola, among others.

In Brazil, Iberdrola also gives its name to the women's football league, which is called Brasileirão Feminino Neoenergia, taking the name of our subsidiary in the country. Thanks to this sponsorship agreement with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), valid until 2024 and the largest in the company's history, Neoenergia also becomes the first company to exclusively support the Brazilian women's football team.

In Scotland, our subsidiary Scottishpower is the main sponsor of Scottish Women's Football (SWF) and the Scottish league. Thus, we have become a sponsor of the Scottish Youth Challenge Cups in all three age groups, in addition to the Scottish Women's Highlands and Islands League. All with the aim of continuing to improve the level of the lower categories and also in the more remote regions.

Iberdrola México has presented the DestElla program in Mexico as part of its commitments to equity and inclusion. This program is aimed at promoting women's development and empowerment through sport. In this first phase, DestElla will promote the women's division of the Mexican Rugby Federation − a sport that promotes values ​​shared with Iberdrola such as respect, integrity, passion, solidarity and discipline.

Iberdrola Ambassadors

The Iberdrola Women Ambassadors programme aims to empower women athletes, recognise their role as a reference in society and raise awareness of the need for us all to build a society with equal opportunities.

The company already has 35 top female sportswomen from Spain and Brazil representing the values of our Group through their sporting activities. With them, it continues to pave the way for women's sport to finally get the recognition it deserves.

Some outstanding ambassadors

Alexia Putellas

Alexia Putellas (Barcelona, 1994) is one of the best football players in the world, with two Ballon d'Or awards and two consecutive The Best Awards (2021 and 2022). A benchmark for the new generations, captain and leader of the midfield, Alexia is also the top scorer in the history of FC Barcelona, with whom she has lifted the first two Champions Leagues in the history of the Blaugrana thanks to her technical ability and vision of the game.

Alexia is World Champion and current captain of the Spanish National Team.

 

Alexia Putellas
 

Carolina Marín

Carolina Marín (Huelva, 1993), considered the best badminton player in history, is an Olympic champion and three-time world badminton champion. A tremendously precocious athlete, at the age of 16 she was the first Spaniard in this sport to win a medal, taking silver at the European Junior Championship and becoming European U17 champion.

From then on, her career has been marked by success. In 2014 she won her first world title (the third European to do so) and her first European championship. In 2015 she retained the title and in 2016 she became the first non-Asian badminton player to be proclaimed Olympic champion. In addition to the aforementioned Olympic gold, Marín has six European championships, a European Games title and three gold medals and a silver medal at world championships to her name. 

 

Carolina Marín
 

Bruna Kajiya

Bruna Kajiya (São Paulo, 1987) is a professional and passionate kitesurfer, four times world champion, in 2009, 2016, 2017 and 2023, and runner-up on six occasions. The first woman in history to achieve the 315 backside manoeuvre, Kajiya has established herself as one of the best competitors on the planet and a reference for girls around the world in the fight for equality in the sport. 

 

Bruna Kajiya
 

Paula Badosa

Paula Badosa (New York, 1997) is a Spanish tennis player who reached the No. 2 WTA ranking in April 2022. The young player won the Indian Wells tournament as the main achievement in her senior career, as well as winning the Roland Garros tournament as a junior.

In Grand Slams, she reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros in 2021, as well as reaching the last 16 on four occasions (Roland Garros 2020, Australian Open 2022, Wimbledon 2021 and 2022). At the Olympic Games, she reached the quarter-finals in Tokyo, having to retire during the match due to heat stroke.

 

Paula Badosa
 

Gisela Pulido

Gisela Pulido (Barcelona, 1994) is one of the leading figures in international kitesurfing. She won her first world title at the age of 10. Since then, she has not stopped winning titles, being ten times freestyle world champion before she was even 30 years old.

With these successes behind her, she has opted for a change of modality by participating in the European Formula Kite, a new category included in the Olympic Games, becoming her gateway to Paris 2024. After finishing sixth at the 2023 European Championships, Pulido has qualified and will participate in her first Olympic Games with the dream of winning a medal.

 

Gisela Pulido
 

Meirelle Leite

Meirelle Leite (Pernambuco, 2002) is a young Brazilian long-distance runner and two-time gold medallist at the South American U23 3000m Steeplechase Championships. A native of the Xukuru indigenous reserve, where she did not have access to the resources for professional training, Leite has managed to raise her training to a professional level on her own merits and is getting closer and closer to realising her dream of becoming the first indigenous Brazilian athlete to represent her country at the Olympic Games.

 

Mirelle Leite
 

Iberdrola also with Paralympic sport

At Iberdrola, we see sport as a fundamental vehicle for advancing towards equality. Sport without labels. We therefore understand that the effort is equal effort for all sportswomen, regardless of whether they need prostheses, wheelchairs, etc., or not. 

Iberdrola is firmly and proudly committed to Olympic and Paralympic athletes, and has sponsored the Spanish Paralympic team through the ADOP Plan (Support for Paralympic Objective Sport) since its creation in 2005. Thus, the company works to support Spanish Olympic and Paralympic athletes on their way to the Paris Games in 2024.

More on sport and women

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