Ventilation of footwear

A ventilation apparatus including a pump, a switching unit, and a fluid diffuser is provided. The pump attached to the footwear pumps fluid into and exhausts fluid from a cavity of the footwear. The switching unit in communication with the pump selectively changes modes of operation of the pump. The fluid diffuser connected to the pump within the cavity of the footwear includes a feed pipe for transferring the fluid pumped from the pump to the cavity of the footwear during a pump mode of operation and to transfer the fluid in the cavity of the footwear to an ambient environment external to the footwear during an exhaust mode of operation, for ventilating the footwear. In one or more embodiments, the fluid diffuser includes a diffusing member with one or more openings and/or a fluid distribution channel member for transferring the fluid to and from the cavity of the footwear.