MADRID, 28 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Professional Soccer Players Union (FUTPRO), Amanda Gutiérrez, stressed on Monday the “structural problem” that exists within the “Spanish soccer organization system”, in relation to the events that occurred around the crisis generated by the non- resignation of the already suspended as president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Luis Rubiales, also asking to “protect” Jenni Hermoso, and censuring “more pressure” that she may receive.
“It has been portrayed and we want to state that this is a problem of the national football organization system and that is how we have transferred it and with this we want to say that the focus is focused on what is something that the footballers suffer every day”, declared the leader trade unionist after meeting with the labor minister.
On the Jenni Hermoso case, a fact that despite not wanting “to focus” on it, it is not “an isolated event.” “Measures must be taken so that we can improve the conditions of our soccer players so that they stop being discriminated against and put an end to those problems that we have been having for so many years,” he stressed.
The announcement of the Prosecutor of the National Court, which opens proceedings for the kiss of Rubiales to Hermoso to whom he offers to take legal action, “happy” Gutiérrez, but asks for “respect” for the soccer player. “It is important that the focus is not lost and the footballer does not become the protagonist and is pressured more than what has already been done, but the focus must be focused on the fact that Jenni must be protected,” he added.
The lawyer focused on the Alhama case, in which a labor inspection resolution determined that the coach was harassing 68% of the squad, but there were no consequences. “The club has done absolutely nothing, likewise we have also sent the resolution to League F and to this day they have still not told us anything,” she explained.
Another complaint from Gutiérrez was the blocking of the collective agreement, for which the soccer players threaten “a strike” to unblock the negotiations. “When we see the salary structure of the F League, we do not believe the argument that there is no money, which added to the recent success of the team in the World Cup, does not support the speech that we cannot pay more because we do not generate it,” defended.
Despite the fact that from the F League they are working “to improve”, from the union they ask that they “do not look for excuses”, but that they look for “solutions” “It has been shown that women’s football gives results and above all, that it is interesting and if we want to grow we have to invest,” he argued.
Gutiérrez regretted that he had to win a World Cup to be able to focus on “what is really important.” “This goes far beyond football, this is something internal that must be changed and we hope that with the work we are doing this will be the case,” he said.
The range of action of the soccer players at the federation level is limited, because “they have almost no representation”, in addition to the fear generated by criticizing the system. “There is a very high percentage that is going to classify whoever dares to speak, that is something that must change in all Spanish football organizations,” he said.
Regarding the behavior of the coach Jorge Vilda, applauding Luis Rubiales, Gutiérrez assured that it is not the “expected” by the soccer players, that they “expect respect” and a structure that “supports equality. “It is true that there was a statement, but the The damage was already done, but after the applause came after the announcement of a salary increase,” he criticized.