Football for the Goals launches “Correct the Internet”

Football for the Goals launches “Correct the Internet”

Who has scored the most goals in international football? The internet will generally tell you it’s Cristiano Ronaldo, when it’s actually women’s footballer, Christine Sinclair.

The inconsistency of searchable facts that disadvantages sportswomen is behind a global campaign launching Saturday (21 January 2023). Correct The Internet is the collective work of an international group of like-minded people that seeks to highlight and correct inaccuracies in internet search results and make sportswomen more visible as a result.

One of its founding partners is Rebecca Sowden, former New Zealand Football Fern and owner of international women’s sports marketing and sponsorship consultancy, Team Heroine, which is a member of the United Nations’ Football for the Goals*.

Rebecca Sowden says she is passionate about helping the world recognise all sporting heroes and empower the next generation of sportswomen.

“Many of the world’s leading athletes are women. Many of the world’s sporting records are held by women. But when people search online for factual sporting information about athletes, the results favour the sportsmen, even when the sportswomen have greater statistics,”

Rebecca Sowden

With its aim to empower women through the power of sport, Correct The Internet has garnered the support of Football for the Goals (FFTG), a United Nations initiative that provides a platform for the global football community to engage with and advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Goal 5 of which aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

“This campaign is prefaced on not continuing to pitch women against men, but to correct and highlight incorrect searchable facts that have lacked consistency and accuracy leading to disadvantages for sportswomen across the globe.

I feel it’s important for those that have achieved these amazing statistics but also for all those witnessing such brilliance. Women are heroes, let’s recognise them for it and remove learnt bias, empowering and inspiring the next generation.”

Meikayla Moore

The campaign officially launched at a match between the NZ Football Ferns and the U.S. Women’s National Team. The campaign launch video shown at the match can be viewed on the Correct the Internet website. 

As EFDN is a proud member and supporter of Football for the Goals, we fully support this campaign. Additionally at EFDN we have many programmes which enourage the participation of women and girls in football and would encourage all our members to do the same.