GAFA Expands to Nine Nations

The Global Alliance for Female Athletes (GAFA) has expanded its membership from four to nine nations, adding Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland, with Ireland and Belgium joining as supporting partners in some reports. The Australian Institute of Sport, which helped found GAFA, says the expansion strengthens international collaboration to fill research gaps and better support female athletes, coaches, and sports medicine professionals. Leaders emphasize that the growth signals a global commitment to accelerating research, disseminating female-focused findings, and applying evidence to reduce injuries such as ACL tears that disproportionately affect women. GAFA has already built a resource library and aims to broaden access to trusted, evidence-based information across borders. In addition to the member nations, several new international partners from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland join as part of a broader push to share expertise across sport science, medicine, and athlete care, underlining the coalition’s mission to improve health and performance for women and girls in sport.