The I FUTPRO Study reveals that more than 60% are afraid of being fired and 40% think they would be discriminated against when playing
BARCELONA, 28 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The women’s soccer union FUTPRO presented this Wednesday its own study on maternity in women’s soccer that reveals that almost half of the professional soccer players in Spain are concerned about the possible reprisals they would receive if they became pregnant.
Based on the opinion of more than 40% of professional players in Spain, the study reveals data that shows that there is real concern on the part of athletes about the difficulty of reconciling motherhood and their sports careers.
Currently, 46% of the players are worried about the reprisals that their club could have if they become pregnant, which discourages them from taking that step if they want to continue being in elite sport.
More than 60% are afraid that their contract will end and more than 40% think that they would be discriminated against when it comes to playing, the other 40% feel that their club could lower their salary if they get pregnant, hence they seek to locate pregnancy “at the end of sports careers”.
Currently, almost 30% of soccer players rule out getting pregnant in order to protect their sports career. For FUTPRO it is “worrying” to also observe that 90% of professional players feel that it is very difficult to reconcile being an elite athlete with motherhood, and 100% of them think that it is necessary for their clubs to implement actions to reconcile between family and work.
Among the difficulties that athletes highlight to combine being mothers with elite athletes is the great concern of more than 40% of not returning to the same physical level. The other 40% of professional players in our country are afraid because the minimum wage makes their economy too unstable, and more than 20% feel that there are very few reconciliation plans on the part of soccer institutions.
The study, presented at the NH Collection Constanza in Barcelona, shows that in 2023, something as natural as being a mother is still a handicap for women who must, and want, maintain the balance between motherhood and elite football.
The president of FUTPRO, Amanda Gutiérrez, stressed that there is no maternity protocol in the current collective agreement, and that it is vital that an agreement aimed at women “regulate” pregnancy and maternity.
“The objective is to help institutions, clubs, national federations, confederations and the media to navigate one of the issues that most concern professional players. Clubs also need the agreement to be clear and show everyone’s obligations to be prepared for cases of pregnancy,” Gutierrez said.
From the association they affirm that it is necessary to have action protocols that help athletes to face all the changes that will happen during the perinatal period without compromising performance after pregnancy.
The union has presented a proposal to include in the collective agreement of Spain strategic actions that reinforce and enrich the measures that currently exist on maternity.
These specific provisions regarding pregnancy and maternity by FUTPRO are: enabling areas or rooms for breastfeeding in the clubs. That the mother can travel with the baby to the concentrations. That there is the figure of the caregiver or nursery that can attend to the baby while the athlete is in training, matches or talks about her.
In addition, creating specialized training sessions during pregnancy to avoid risks to the player and the fetus, adapted to each moment of the pregnancy. Also specialized training after childbirth, and that they are specific for each situation and that these sessions are specific and take into account each body to guarantee that the soccer player returns to the field at 100%.
Finally, FUTPRO requests, after the results of this first report, paid leave to take the child to a medical consultation and paid leave to carry out prenatal examinations and childbirth preparation techniques.