BBC World Service Calls On Sports Fans Across The Globe To Vote For The World’s Best Female Footballer

London, 30 March 2015. The BBC has announced the launch of the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year competition – the first of its kind hosted by a global broadcaster.

The BBC Women's Footballer of the Year award will celebrate the top female footballers currently competing in one of world's fastest growing sports.

A panel of experts – including administrators, journalists, coaches and former players – have come together to determine a five woman shortlist and football fans around the world will soon have the unique opportunity to vote for their winner.

The BBC Women's Footballer of the Year award was announced during this month's edition of Canada Calling on Sportsworld. Broadcasting live on BBC World Service radio each month, Canada Calling features women's football news and views from across the globe ahead of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.

Mary Hockaday, Controller of BBC World Service English said: “2015 is a huge year for women's football. We are about to see the biggest ever FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada this summer, making 2015 the perfect time to launch the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year. I'm proud that BBC World Service is committed to covering women's sport. This new award will showcase some of the best female football stars to further engage and inspire people about the women's game”.

Caroline Rigby, Managing Editor of the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year said: “This award is a great opportunity to highlight the incredible skill level and depth of talent that exists in women's football globally. It will demonstrate how far the game has come in recent years and will enable supporters to introduce the best players in the world to new fans”.

The shortlisted players, and details on how to vote, will be revealed on Sunday April 26th and the winner will be announced in late May.

BBC World Service Group includes BBC World Service, BBC World News television, bbc.com/news (the BBC's international-facing online news site), BBC Monitoring and BBC Media Action – the BBC's international development charity.

The BBC attracts a weekly global audience of 265 million people to its international news services including BBC World Service, BBC World News television channel and bbc.com/news.

BBC World Service is an international multimedia broadcaster, delivering a wide range of language and regional services on radio, TV, online and via wireless handheld devices. It uses multiple platforms to reach its weekly audience of 191 million globally, including shortwave, AM, FM, digital satellite and cable channels. Its news sites include audio and video content and offer opportunities to join the global debate. BBC World Service offers its multilingual radio content to partner FM stations around the world and has numerous partnerships supplying content to news websites, mobile phones and other wireless handheld devices as well as TV channels. For more information, visit bbc.com/worldservice.

BBC World News and BBC.com, the BBC's commercially funded international 24-hour English news platforms, are owned and operated by BBC Global News Ltd. BBC World News television is available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and over 385 million households and 1.8 million hotel rooms. The channel's content is also available on 178 cruise ships, 53 airlines and 23 mobile phone networks. BBC.com offers up-to-the minute international news and in-depth analysis for PCs, tablets and mobile devices to more than 80 million unique browsers each month.