Women in sporting goods leadership: 'It is not really changing'

Leaders from UEFA, Sport 2000 International, O’Neill and Decathlon took the stage at the ISPO Summit in Amsterdam on Tuesday with a shared message: women’s leadership in sport and sporting goods is moving too slowly. On the panel “Change Management: Leading with Courage in Times of Misalignment” were Laura McAllister, Margit Gosau, Tamara Friessnegg and moderator Celine Del Genes.

Margit Gosau, CEO of Sport 2000 International, has worked in sporting goods and related industries for about 30 years, including at Rockport, Reebok and Ecco. Gosau, who said she was one of the first female CEOs in the industry, said the gender balance at the top has barely shifted since then: “It is not really changing.”

Gosau said this is why she co-founded Global Game Shapers, a network that promotes female leadership in sport, with Friessnegg and Del Genes. “It comes also with some consequences to actually sometimes be the only woman,” she said. “You have to also work a lot on change management and you have to be courageous, because sometimes things are not 100 percent aligned to your needs as a woman in business.”

“Two out of 21”

Laura McAllister, vice president of UEFA, was elected to the European football body’s executive committee in 2023. “For the first three years of my time on the board, I was the only woman on the board, one woman out of 21,” she said. “We now have another colleague, Lise Klaveness from Norway, who’s on the ExCo, but still only two out of 21. So we’ve clearly got more work to do in respect of gender equality and good governance in football.”

McAllister said the responsibility for change belongs to those already in the boardroom. “If you’re a man who sits in a boardroom, have a look around you and just see if your board reflects the business and the community that you represent. And if it doesn’t, it’s your problem,” she said. “It’s not women’s problem, it’s not people of colour’s problem, it’s not people with disabilities’ problem.”

She also argued for quotas. “There is no meritocracy in sports governance. Just accept that as a base position,” McAllister said. “I wouldn’t have got to this position if it weren’t for quotas within UEFA.” She added that quotas “are meant to be time-limited”, but are needed at present because they are not generating the diversity required “fast enough”.

McAllister compared the pace of change to a relay race. “We pick up the baton, then we run our leg, and then we pass it to someone else, but we don’t expect to cross the finishing line necessarily whilst we’re holding the baton,” she said.

Values and walking away

Tamara Friessnegg spent 10 years in sports and brand marketing at Adidas before becoming CMO of O’Neill. She described leaving her last role after “a change in strategy, a change in my mandate, a change in my scope”. She said she decided “to actually choose me for once” and is now taking a break rather than jumping at the next offer.

“We can only change culture if the values are the same within a management team,” Friessnegg said. “Otherwise, you’re pushing a rock up a very, very steep hill.”

Celine Del Genes, who has held roles at Adidas and Decathlon, said she joined Adidas’ football business as the first woman on its senior leadership team. She recalled asking her boss whether she had been hired because she was a woman. “He said, ‘We need to reconquer number one market share. Do you think I would have picked you just because you’re a woman while I have that goal that I need to achieve?’” she said.

What leaders can do on Monday

Asked what executives could do differently, Gosau urged them to put culture and values on the agenda alongside the numbers. “I notice actually that male leadership is very driven by focusing on content, less so on what’s around,” she said. “We all manage our P&Ls, but we also have to manage the fact that if you really address people and their needs, fundamentally your business results become better anyway.”

McAllister called on organisations to take responsibility “with timelines attached”. Friessnegg asked leaders to examine their own hiring. “We tend to recruit mini-mes or people that we’re familiar with, especially when things are not working as well as they maybe should be in the business,” she said. “In those moments, have courage within the organisation and your own leadership skills and style to take a chance on someone that maybe doesn’t fit the hole that you used to have.”

About ISPO

ISPO is an international trade fair for the sporting goods, outdoor and winter sports industries. The 2026 edition took place from November 3 to 5 at RAI Amsterdam, moving from Munich and shifting to early November to better align with global buying cycles. It is organised by Raccoon Media Group with partner Messe München, and the ISPO Leaders’ Summit took place on the first day of the event.