What better environment for gauging the state of the women's game than the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup? And with this in mind, more than 500 delegates from 203 associations are attending the fourth FIFA Women's Football Symposium at the Gran Hyatt Shanghai Conference Center on 28-29 September.

For the last two years FIFA's Development Division has been working closely with its regional offices in the six confederations to analyse the role of the female footballer in various countries and the extent to which women's football has developed in those regions. The main objective of this process is to identify the problems affecting the sport and the potential for promoting it in the future.

"Women's football occupies a very important position at FIFA," said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, who officially opened the Symposium on Friday. "Standards have improved greatly and 2008 will be a huge year for the women's game, with three major events being organised."

As part of the two-day event, experts will present seven case studies based on exhaustive reports compiled on each continent. These case studies provide real examples of the work that is being carried out in widely differing regions towards one single goal. By way of example, Harold Mayne-Nichols, the president of the Chilean FA, will look at the situation regarding the women's game in his country, which has taken on the challenge of hosting the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in 2008.

Michele Cox, a former New Zealand international, current member of the Women's Football Commission and the head of the national FA's women's football programme, will explain how the game is progressing in Oceania. New Zealand is preparing to host the very first edition of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup next year, a tournament that represents another step forward in FIFA's strategy of setting up equivalent international competitions to those organised for their male counterparts.

Among the topics to be debated by the experts are youth programmes, the creation of new competitions, the training of coaches and referees, and medical specialisation in the health and training of women footballers.

A number of other aspects key to establishing the women's game and ensuring its future growth will also be dealt with, as will issues such as the breaking down of cultural barriers, the involvement of sponsors and the role of the media.

The objective of the symposium is to provide a forum for debate so that new ideas safeguarding and strengthening the presence of women in football can be generated.