Lina Magull from FC Bayern Munich: “Equal pay shouldn’t be our top priority”

SPIEGEL: Ms. Magull, recently a lot has been reported about the fact that the German Football Association lifted the ban on women playing football 50 years ago. The focus was on anecdotes such as the famous coffee service as a European Championship award in 1989. Looking back at an anniversary is not surprising, but the constant warming up of old stories must be annoying: Wouldn’t you prefer to talk about the future?

Lina Magull: I wasn’t annoyed by it now. I was happy that this anniversary was reported at all. But of course, looking to the future is also important. Women’s football has added value for sport and society, and there is still so much potential, so much more could be achieved – even with little effort.

SPIEGEL: What are the basic characteristics of women’s football?

Magull: The focus with us is more on the game, the pure football – but not on things like acting or wealth, as is often the case with men. We are characterized by passion and perseverance, after all we earn a lot less than men, but we work at least as hard as they do. We are approachable, we approach our fans.

SPIEGEL: You wrote in a blog entry that women’s football in Germany does not have the status it deserves. What do you mean by that specifically?

Magull: It’s about perception. Are our games shown live? Where are they shown? What time do they take place? There is no uniform platform where you can find out more about women’s football in Germany. Critical topics can also be dealt with here. But we need regular reporting. And we need to be marketed much better. This is changing a little at Bayern. Now it’s okay if we’re shown as part of the club in the fan shop. We need the support of the clubs and the association to become more visible.

SPIEGEL: Do the players have to make the clubs and associations more aware of this?

Magull: There are perhaps too few female players who feel they have this responsibility. Team councils and captains have to try harder. But: It is not up to us to start campaigns. Ultimately, such decisions are made by male board members in men’s football – we have to convince them.

SPIEGEL: Dealing with the challenges in your sport is often very defensive on the part of German players. Is your generation too quiet?

Magull: The players are still relatively young and don’t want to complain. Anyone who plays in the national team and in a good club also has a very good life. But there is still much more possible: I still see so much potential in women’s football and therefore want to speak out more publicly in order to suggest important topics.

SPIEGEL: Was there a point in your career when you decided to get louder?

Magull: I’ve always found it fascinating when players speak their minds and don’t hide. For me, this has developed particularly in the past year. I am now the captain of Bayern and have a permanent place in the national team. I want to take on more responsibility.

SPIEGEL: When it comes to equal premiums in the national teams, reference is usually made to the higher income of the male footballers. However, the DFB is a non-profit association and for that reason alone would have the opportunity to set an example with Equal Pay.

Magull: It’s great that it is already working in other, albeit few, countries. In Germany I still see it differently. It should not be the first and foremost goal to have equal rewards for achievements with the national team. For me it makes a lot more sense to invest more money holistically in women’s football, in the league and in clubs. My big goal is for us to be a full professional league one day. In the end, I see it like DFB President Fritz Keller, who says: ‘Equal game takes precedence over equal pay.’ But this requires financial support.

SPIEGEL: But isn’t that frustrating with the unequal premiums? Women soccer players do the same thing as soccer players.

Magull: I even maintain that we do more than men because of the double or triple burden. Some study, others work – there is hardly a player who is a full professional. What matters to income is what comes out. And the situation in terms of marketing and merchandising is too unsatisfactory. The gap between men and women is too wide.

SPIEGEL: You mentioned presence and kick-off times earlier, what bothers you there?

Magull: An example: our last international match against England in October should have kicked off at 4 p.m. during the week. In Wiesbaden, in a stadium that doesn’t really inspire – if you put the ghost backdrop during Corona aside for a moment. This is inconvenient and I wonder who decides that. A game like that has to be made much bigger. The effect is very different in a large stadium and at 8 p.m.

SPIEGEL: Critics often make comparisons between women’s and men’s football – in terms of athletics or tactics. Is that fair?

Magull: It is a problem. But I don’t think the majority think that way. Everyone should be smart enough to know that in athletics we never get on the same level as men. You shouldn’t see that as a yardstick and just watch the game with different eyes. We play football at a high level, but not at the men’s level. In the end, a game in the men’s third division isn’t as enthusiastic as a Bundesliga game. But I value every playful ability.

SPIEGEL: Borussia Dortmund and FC Schalke are very defensive in setting up a women’s division and starting in the regional league. What do you think of the decisions?

Magull: I wasn’t thrilled when I heard this. I would have liked the two clubs to go ahead and land in the Bundesliga in a short time. That would have been a strong sign.

SPIEGEL: You belong to an alliance of players founded during the corona crisis. What is the task of this association?

Magull: I joined the community to have a special exchange among players. This makes it easier for the players to seek advice in the event of problems. It was important to me to be there because we players weren’t involved in important decisions during the Corona period in spring.

SPIEGEL: What happened?

Magull: When it came to the question of whether or not to continue playing, I felt a bit ignored due to the exceptional situation.

SPIEGEL: Would you have decided not to play if asked?

Magull: I might have said no. There were just too many unanswered questions. Even today we still don’t know enough about the long-term consequences of Corona, but at that time the situation seemed to me to be particularly delicate for people who do sports from a health perspective. There was also a distortion of competition because some clubs could not train at all or too little.