Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Ex-footballer Lara Dickenmann sees Women’s Euro 2025 as an opportunity

Former professional footballer Lara Dickenmann sees the Women's European Championship as an opportunity
Former professional footballer Lara Dickenmann sees the Women's European Championship as an opportunity Keystone-SDA

Former Swiss football player Lara Dickenmann had no female role models as a child. For her, the boom in women's football has not yet fully arrived in Switzerland. She sees hosting the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 here as a chance to change that.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

Football has always been the focus for the 39-year-old. “Football, which has so far stubbornly clung to being one of the last bastions of masculinity in this country, will be presented in a new light next summer,” Dickenmann told Swiss German newspaper Sonntagsblick.

This could be a turning point, not only in sport, but also in society, she says. It is important to use this opportunity to strengthen women’s football and continue on the path to equality.

+ Switzerland to host Women’s Euro 2025

She has seen a lot of progress during her playing days. She was one of the first players abroad to make a living from football and play in front of packed stands or on television. “Since I hung up my boots three and a half years ago, the pace of change has multiplied again,” said Dickenmann.

+ Euro 2025: Swiss government wants CHF4 million for women’s sport

The UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 is coming to Switzerland at the right time. In her early years, she only played football with boys. There was no local girls’ team back then. That hardened her. It was normal for her not to feel like she belonged in a team and still perform. She was ridiculed and had to answer back on the pitch.

Translated from French by DeepL/ds

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

More
Coming soon Lost Cells A podcast uncovering the human stories behind private stem cell banking's promises and failures. Get notified

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

View of the Swiss city of Zug.

More

Swiss multinational SGS to move HQ from Geneva to Zug

This content was published on The Swiss multinational SGS, the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company, plans to move its headquarters from Geneva to canton Zug in central Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss multinational SGS to move HQ from Geneva to Zug
Swiss Solidarity collects 34.4 million in 2024

More

Swiss Solidarity charity collected CHF34 million in 2024

This content was published on Swiss Solidarity, the humanitarian arm of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), raised CHF34.4 million ($37.7 million) in donations in 2024 and spent CHF63 million on humanitarian projects.

Read more: Swiss Solidarity charity collected CHF34 million in 2024

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR