Leading experts on women's football in Russia gather in Moscow ‪on Friday (7 April) to look at opportunities to develop the game in the Russia.

The pioneering conference comes only two months before the country hosts the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, ahead of next year’s World Cup, to shift part of the tournament’s exposure toward the women’s game.

The ‘Girl Power’ conference, the first major event of this kind in modern Russian history, will be split int three panels. The first will focus on the development and increasing popularity of women’s football, followed by a session on the growing influence and presence of women in football leadership positions. The conference will end after a session on the opportunities in women’s football as a business.

Speakers will include former Afghanistan international Khalida Popal, athlete and sports commentator Yolanda Chen, the head of Adidas social marketing Irina Lebedeva and Fare Executive Director Piara Powar. The Russian Football Union (Russian FA) will be represented by discrimination inspector Alexey Smertin and the head of the Women's Football Committee Natalia Avdonchenko.

The conference is organised by the women’s football school Girl Power and is funded by the Fare network and supported by Adidas.

Alla Filina, co-founder of GirlPower, said: “We launched our school in 2015 and were overwhelmed by how many passionate women and girls came forward to play and train regularly. But, they still face many obstacles so we wanted to highlight these two sides in this conference and make it easier for women across Russia to participate in the game and fight stereotypes and create opportunities”.