That the first surname of Aitana Bonmatí (Sant Pere de Ribes, 1998) is that of her mother already says a lot about the vindictive nature that runs through the blood of the best player of the year and MVP of the last Women’s World Cup won by Spain. «When I was born, the rule said that the father’s name should come first, and that didn’t seem right to mine, so they fought to change this. “They have always wanted to change the world and the inequality that exists between men and women,” the soccer player acknowledged in an interview before proclaiming herself world champion in Sydney last August.
Rosa and Vicent, their parents, clashed with the legislation and began a spiral of contacts, complaints and processes until they managed to change the legal context. Starting in 2000, when the midfielder was 16 months old, the rule changed, and with it she gave priority to a surname that is now a legend in the masterpiece of Spanish women’s football after the first universal star achieved by Spain last August in Australia.
With parents like this, with clear ideas and the will to fight for what they believe in, it is not surprising that the favorite to win the next Ballon d’Or makes multiple social and political causes visible both on and off the playing fields, whether on mental health issues, feminism or in the fight to professionalize the Women’s League.
The only girl on her team
«Sometimes I go to play on some courses and I put my hands on my head. Do I really have to play here as a professional? “You have to set minimum conditions so that there is less possibility of injury,” reflects the player, who was always clear that she wanted to dedicate herself to soccer even though at school, surrounded by children, many did not accept that she played better than them. “Now it’s different, kids see women on TV playing and they see it differently, but until recently it wasn’t like that,” laments the player, who wears the ’14’ on her back at Barça for Johan Cruyff. , and that she says that her family, related to independence movements, was not the classic soccer fan, as well as delves into the lack of female references when she – when she was six or seven years old – started kicking the ball. «The girls who play football know that things are serious, when I started I didn’t see a future, but there is a future although there is still a long way to go. “I am privileged.”
Bonmatí can boast of having won the League, Super Cup, Champions League and a World Cup last season, which was marred by the sexist attitudes of the now former president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, and the non-consensual kiss to Jenni Hermoso, which caused that the 23 champions of the national team stood up under the motto ‘It’s over’ to request important changes in the structure of the governing body of football in Spain.
The superlative Barça and Spanish national team midfielder, star of the Salvados program that airs this coming Sunday (10:30 p.m./ laSexta), reflects on this. “There weren’t that many male players who supported you, did you expect more support?” Gonzo, journalist and presenter of the Atresmedia space, asks him directly. With a gesture of disappointment, the Ballon d’Or winner from the last World Cup competition answers with total honesty: “Well no, the truth is no.”
Decent conditions to play
The chapter, which deals with the achievements achieved by the women’s team on a social level, has voices from other athletes such as Ona Carbonell or Carolina Marín who express their support for the demands of the Spanish internationals. «Finally we have a loudspeaker, we reach homes and we have been heard. We are not asking to be paid the same as men, we are asking for decent conditions, we are talking about the professional women’s First Division and in most things the only thing that has changed is to put the professional in front,” says the leader of the world champion.
Regarding the scandal with the Spanish Football Federation, the Catalan underlines the distrust that the team has had with the entire structure of the entity, pointing out that “I believe that the people in the Rubiales assembly applauded him out of pressure and fear when He said he would not resign. “It’s not a very safe environment,” she says.
“The players of the national team have almost put an end to the ’78 regime, you challenge the bosses with a strike, you ask for better salaries, you have promoted the feminist movement… haven’t you thought about setting up a political party?” asks the presenter to the athlete, who suggests that “it would be necessary because this country is not very well.”
“We are not capricious”
Competitive, winning and ambitious, the Catalan was one of the leaders of the famous revolt against Jorge Vilda, former national coach and next women’s coach of Morocco, in September of last year, when 15 wayward players, most of them from Barcelona, reported to the Federation his resignation from the team due to its refusal to remove the Madrid coach from his position. They alleged physical and psychological reasons for this. They wanted to be guaranteed a professional structure like they have in their clubs. The effort was not in vain, and they know very well that if they are given resources they can reach the top. «What we want is the best for the good of women’s football. We are not capricious. We are super professional and super ambitious. “We want to fight to be the best in the world and I think this says a lot about us,” she explained in a talk with the ‘Diari Ara’, emphasizing a thread that in recent times has intensified in women’s sports with the lack of professional resources and poor management as a backdrop. A modern revolution at the height of elite sport that can no longer be turned back. “We are an example at a sporting and social level for what we want as a society, an egalitarian society, a better society that conceives men and women equally, with the same rights and that treats us equally,” demands the Barça star.
2023-10-13 14:11:49
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