FUTPROthe majority union of women soccer players, is only two years old but they have already established themselves as benchmarks in the Women’s Football Spanish. The Association of Spanish Soccer Players (AFE) had to compensate them for denying the End of Career Fund to their soccer players and they are in full negotiations with the Federation for the return of Alexia Putellas, Irene Paredes and the 15 internationals to the Spanish team. Amanda Gutiérrez, its president, claimed in El Periódico de Catalunyafrom the Prensa Ibérica group, the future of League F (the Women’s First Division).
What aspects of the agreement are you trying to improve this season?
The current agreement was a step towards professionalization but it is very minimal. The most important points to improve are salary and partiality, regulating maternity, addressing the compensation list, which has only made young talent leave the country, and an improvement in the protocol for sexual harassment and mental health .
What is the current protocol for sexual harassment and mental health?
There is no protocol for mental health yet. There is one of sexual harassment, but when the Carlos Santiso thing happened, FUTPRO resorted to that protocol and it was useless because it forced the soccer players to have to speak. When you are in a sexual harassment situation, having to come forward is not an option. We have to make them feel protected. We have implemented an anonymous reporting button so that any footballer or staff member can report workplace, sexual or mobbing harassment and decide whether or not to identify themselves. They have a space to explain what happened. A completely anonymous chat opens with us and from there we contact the club to activate the protocol.
Is it viable right now to implement VAR in the F League?
It is very positive to implement it, but it has to be linked to a series of progress, such as improving the infrastructure and continuing to train the arbitration team. As the league is now there have to be a series of changes so that the implementation of the VAR can be possible.
“The union shown by the referees and the strategy they designed was key to achieving that increase so quickly. When a group fights all together, things are achieved”
Apart from the VAR, as a union can you show the discontent of the players with the level of refereeing?
It does not belong to us. But the competition is improving and we all have to improve with it. We must continue to train and encourage more referees and raise the level so that everything improves.
Why did the referees get a raise so quickly and why does it cost so much for the players?
Who pays the referees is not the League but the Federation. They asked to improve their conditions and made a break in the competition, and this makes the clubs lose a lot of money. The unity shown by the referees and the strategy they designed were key to achieving this rapid increase. When a collective fights all together, things are achieved.
“We have a worrying talent drain and if we don’t improve the agreement they will continue leaving. Now we are the third best league, but that position will decline”
You asked for 50,000 euros per year for the players. How is that managed in very modest clubs?
We must bear in mind that the football career is short, that it may coincide with your fertile stage of life and that the future is uncertain. The F League rejected our proposal outright. And the unions, on February 8, made a proposal of 35,000 euros per year in a maximum three-year agreement. That amount is acceptable for all clubs. All the players agree that a salary of 16,000 or 19,000 in 2027, which is what the F League proposes, is not enough to live on. Even those that are well above that figure do not agree with signing an agreement like this because competition decreases and talent goes to other countries where the average salary is higher. In the end, it’s not competitive.
Do you think that’s why so many players have gone to England this season?
Of course. Not taking care of the working conditions of the soccer players causes them to leave for a competition in which they do take them into account and consider them the main asset of the clubs. We have a worrying brain drain and if we don’t improve the agreement they will continue leaving. We are now the third best league, but that position will decline.
AFE compensated FUTPRO for not allowing soccer players not affiliated with AFE to access the End of Career Fund. Why did the players initially accept it?
By ignorance. On the AFE website itself, she indicated that if you were a woman, you had to be affiliated with them. And the players, due to simple ignorance, did not ask themselves why, because they were women, they had to be affiliated. Many of them informed us that they had received an email denying them the Fund because they were affiliated with FUTPRO. We began to investigate and filed a lawsuit. The National Court understood that there was discrimination.
Could María Alharilla and Marta Corredera consider being mothers before the professional league?
It is very gratifying but it is not thanks to the Agreement because nothing is provided for maternity. It only establishes that if you get pregnant you can renew one more year, but they are protected by labor laws. I was very surprised in the case of Sara Bjork [ganó un recurso contra el Lyón por impagos durante su embarazo], that in a European country there are no laws that protect a pregnant woman. The performance of Levante UD and Real Madrid has been very good, both have been interested and have given their all, as it should be.
What do you want to include in the next Collective Agreement regarding maternity?
Access to nurseries during training, the possibility of traveling with the baby, setting up lactation rooms, and above all, the issue of charging. The Agreement offers 100% of the salary in case of incapacity for work, but in practical terms, maternity is not a disability in the strict sense of the word. We want maternity leave to cover the player’s entire salary.
“In Spain, the law obliges footballers to attend the national team’s call. And if they don’t go, they can be disqualified. In Canada it seems that the laws there establish the same thing and the federation is using those resources to get them to return”
Of the demands you receive from the soccer players, what do you perceive as your priority?
At the league level, improve infrastructure. The Higher Sports Council has invested 22.5 million to help the clubs and the competition. We hope that in the next three years they will improve fields and changing rooms. And in reference to the agreement, aspects such as maternity, sexual harassment, mental health and economic conditions. A professional soccer player cannot live with 16,000 euros. There are many things to work on and improve. This is the first year of this league but the clubs have been investing in women’s football for many years now.
Why does women’s football have so many obstacles in Spain?
Because in women’s football we are pawns in a bigger war.
In recent weeks, a new conflict has arisen in the Canadian team. Can the federation leave them without their 2022 salary for going on a week-long strike?
I don’t know the laws of Canada but in Spain the law obliges soccer players to attend the national team’s call. And if they do not go, they can be subject to economic sanctions and even the very disqualification of the soccer players from practicing their profession. In Canada it seems that the laws there establish the same and the federation is using these resources to get the soccer players back.
Why is it so hard for national teams to treat female footballers as professionals?
It costs across the board. In the clubs it is covered and the soccer players do not talk about it. There are players who have to travel 11 hours roundtrip by bus for a league match. Achieving any right for soccer players costs much more than if you are a man, for them it is inherent. We have to fight for something that is natural for them. We have to continue there and without fear of reprisals.
What do you expect from the next World Cup?
That we can show our faces, get as high as possible and that we go to the competition with the best.
