BarcelonaThe actress Alyssa Milano topped the tweets in October 2017 with the hashtag #MeToo to publicly denounce the sexual assaults that women had suffered. The movement, which had a particular impact in Hollywood, became a revolution in the world of cinema, which put the focus especially on the producer Harvey Weinstein. Soccer player Alexia Putellas topped the tweets in August 2023 with the hashtag #SeAcabó in response to the sexist speech of the then president of the RFEF, Luis Rubiales, after he kissed Jennifer Hermoso without consent during the medal ceremony of the Women’s World Cup final. The movement, which is beginning to cause important changes in Spanish sport, has spread unstoppably to other regions of the planet.
The sunrise was already intuited when the untimely meetings of the night of September 19 to 20 ended during the concentration in Oliva (Valencia), which laid the foundations for a profound change in Spanish football. Once the agreements circulated with the creation of a mixed commission were agreed, the three protagonists – the players themselves, the RFEF and the Superior Sports Council (CSD) – attended the media to give their respective versions regarding what that had happened But the one who did it on behalf of the soccer players was not a player, but Amanda Gutiérrez (Barcelona, 1991), president of Futpro, the union that the professionals have chosen to act as their spokesperson and advise them in the case.
“The #SeAcabó is a completely spontaneous and very beautiful movement. It is a demonstration that now not only the footballers but all the women in our society are united and we are united. It is a moment in which not even the media nor will the institutions be able to separate us,” assures Gutiérrez to ARA. “I think #SeAcabó has had a huge impact. I don’t know if it’s the same as #MeToo, but it’s definitely had a global impact. Women all over the world have come together to support something that they sadly suffer from many and that it must end”, he adds.
The same treatment as the men’s team
The historic meetings in Oliva, which took place after a call to which the players had to attend in an obligatory way – tomorrow at 4 p.m., precisely, the new coach, Montse Tomé will give her second call-, according to Gutiérrez, they served “to put the points in a clearer way and to realize that we all wanted the same thing and that, in a constructive way, we can make the RFEF much more inclusive”. The main agreement that was reached was the creation of the mixed commission – made up of the players, the RFEF and the CSD – which will be in charge of making sure that the requested changes are made. “The existence of this commission is a very positive fact”, considers the president of Futpro. “It helps to approach positions and start applying changes that lead us to a more egalitarian structure that helps to make the women’s section more professional. We believe that it is necessary to create something like this so that the changes we have asked for are applied and to receive the same treatment as the men’s section,” he continues to argue.
One of the actors in these talks was the CSD, which did not begin to be forceful with Rubiales until the end of the assembly in which he refused to resign. There he also said that Hermoso’s version of the kiss was not true. When this happened, it had already been five days since the World Cup final had been played, a fact that Gutiérrez regrets. “From my point of view, it would have been very positive if the intervention of the CSD had arrived a little earlier. In situations like this it is important to get involved from the beginning”, he points out. Anyway, he admits that “the CSD has always had a very good predisposition” and considers that “it mediated at a momentous moment when the players needed commitments that were not merely verbal.” Thus, the president of Futpro assures that “the intervention of the CSD caused the players to feel that they received more guarantees”.
When asked if the reaction of soccer players, society and politics to Rubiales’ kiss in Hermoso has led to other players reporting similar incidents to Futpro, Gutiérrez says that “the answer to this question is completely private.” But he takes the opportunity to state that “when a person is in a situation of sexual assault or harassment, showing their face is not an option and, for this reason, from Futpro we want them to feel very protected because their problem is our problem “. The union has an anonymous report button on its website where any footballer or member of a coaching staff can report workplace, sexual or mobbing harassment and decide whether to identify themselves or remain anonymous. The complaint leads to the opening of an anonymous chat with Futpro and, from there, the union initiates all the procedures necessary to activate the protocol in the club where the events took place.
The new collective agreement
The struggle of the Spanish national team is not the only one in which Futpro is immersed. It is also one of the unions that represents the players in the negotiations of the new collective agreement that led to a one-day strike in League F. Gutiérrez admits that during the meetings with the management to defuse the strike only “we talked about the salary ” annual minimum, which was increased from 16,000 to 21,000 euros -22,000 and 23,000 for the following two seasons -, but he adds that “for months there has been talk of other matters that concern the players, such as maternity and a minimum good conditions of the playing fields in our country, which affect the image that is projected in the world of our league and cause many injuries to footballers”.
2023-10-17 11:46:55
#media #institutions #separate #fight #SeAcabó
