Alessia Russo joins Sky campaign to empower girls and close sport participation gap

Alessia Russo has linked up with Sky and Goal 4 Girls to campaign to increase participation in football and empower inactive girls.

Polls and survey comssion by Sky from Public First found that boys aged 11 to 18 typeically spend 1.4 hours per week more than girls per week playing sport.

 Boys' teams are prioritised with bookings for pitches and facilities, according to 29% of girls

And 33% of girls aged 11 to 18 reported experiencing sexist comments while playing sport, jumping to 42% among 15-18 year olds.

"It's tough - you go through lots of different highs and lows in football, but stuff like that shouldn't be the case," Russo said.

"It's a shame it's a barrier. There's lots of things that can steer you away from sport and our job as athletes is to make sure that we keep these players on track.

Hopefully we can create enough change that this isn't a problem going forward."

"To encourage as many young girls to go and follow their dreams, not only in football but just in life in general.

"Whatever you want to do and which pathway you would like to go down, I would like to help in any way I can, using the platform that I've got, which I feel very fortunate to have."

Sky is pushing for a minimum of two hours of PE weekly for children across Britain with guidance on uniforms to help on body image, culture and comfort issues.

There are aspirations for a National Girls and Women in Sport Day while Sky is asking for the government to provide tax relief on the production of women's sport to increase the number of events that can be broadcast - providing greater visibility.