Global initiative for female athletes now includes nine countries

The Global Alliance for Female Athletes (GAFA) has expanded from four to nine members with Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland joining the initiative, the Australian Sports Commission said on Friday.

Aimed at improving health and performance outcomes for women in sport, GAFA was launched last year by organisations from Australia, the U.S., Britain and New Zealand.

Ireland and Belgium have also joined the initiative as supporting partners.

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), which helped establish the alliance, said the new members would strengthen international collaboration in addressing research gaps and enhance support for female athletes, coaches and sports medicine practitioners.

"The growth of GAFA to nine nations shows there is enormous appetite around the world to work together, share knowledge and create lasting change for female athletes," AIS Female Performance Health Initiative lead Rachel Harris said in a statement.

"By working together across borders, we're able to accelerate research, share lessons faster and ensure more female athletes benefit from the latest evidence and insights."

Harris said a key priority for the alliance was ensuring that female-focused research reaches athletes, coaches and health professionals around the world.

The expansion comes amid growing efforts to address female-specific health issues in sport, including anterior cruciate ligament injuries, with studies showing female athletes are two to six times more likely to sustain the injury than men.

-Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Reuters