FC Barcelona celebrates women’s empowerment throughout Asia Pacific

FC Barcelona is a Club firmly committed to equality, diversity and inclusivity. As part of this commitment the Club has launched a global campaign, for which it has joined forces with its fans in Asia Pacific to highlight the importance of women in the world of sport and overall female empowerment. Over the past month, FC Barcelona has worked closely with artists, influencers and Barça Academies across China, India, Japan, Singapore and Indonesia to create content celebrating the role of women in sport and in wider society.

Also, to celebrate the Barça Women’s team achievements and the importance of women’s sport, the Club unveiled a piece of street art in the heart of Hong Kong, home of FC Barcelona’s APAC headquarters. The mural was designed and painted by two local female artists and was inspired by Barça’s International Women’s Day celebration, when the Club painted the female symbol on the pitch of the Camp Nou and other facilities.

This action follows one of the greatest milestones achieved by the team, which after signing a historic treble last year winning the league,the Queens Cup and Champion, on  March 30, played in front of 91,553 Culers at Camp Nou. It was the first time the women’s team played at the Stadium with people on the stands, and on that day Barça broke the fan attendance world record at a women’s match.

The street art is part of the Club’s More than Empowerment campaign that reinforces FC Barcelona’s longstanding commitment to women’s sport and is one of the pillars upon which Barça's unique identity is built.  Besides, Barça Academies across Singapore, India, Japan and China joined the celebration as the children recreated the female symbol on their pitches, which follows on from the club’s imaginative idea on International Women’s Day to create the Venus symbol by adding a new line just beneath the centre circle.

Fans in Asia got involved on social media by selecting their favourite moment from the women’s team history, which were then recreated by female artists in China and India including Alexia Putellas winning the 2021 Women’s Ballon d’Or, FC Barcelona Femení winning the first Women’s Champions League in Club history and honoring former teammate Virginia Torrecilla on her return to football after beating cancer.

Influencers across Asia Pacific also joined the campaign sending messages of encouragement for women around the world using the Club’s Instagram filter, which transitioned from the iconic Barça crest to the women’s symbol.

Barça and women’s football

Barça Women turned professional in the summer of 2015. Since then, the team has established itself as a point of reference in the Spanish league. They were the first club in Spain to reach a quarterfinal of the Champions League in 2014, the first to reach a semi-final in 2017,  the first to make it to a final in 2019, and the first to win it, which they did in 2021.

The commitment to women’s football has remained with Barça Women, with the talent trained at the club such as Patri Guijarro, Leila Ouahabi and Aitana Bonmatí, among others, as well as important international signings such as Lieke Martens -who in 2017 was chosen as Player of the Year by UEFA and The Best by FIFA, and recently was named Golden Woman Player 2021-, Asisat Oshoala -named best African women’s player of the decade- or Caroline Graham Hansen.

Furthermore, this year Alexia Putellas has become the first Barça Women player to win the Ballon d’Or. What’s more, there were four other players from the team among the nominees: Lieke Martens, Jennifer Hermoso, Sandra Paños and Irene Paredes. Five candidates who have set another historic milestone for the club.

Recently, Putellas also won the Best FIFA Women’s Player award, marking her third individual award since the start of the 2021/22 season. A recognition which also has seen Jennifer Hermoso among the finalists.