Rodríguez Uribes: “The professionalization of women's football will be a great step towards equality”

The Minister of Culture and Sports, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, affirmed this Tuesday that “the professionalization of women's football will be a great step on the long road to equality” in his appearance before the Plenary of the Senate. Rodríguez Uribes answered the question from the senator for Álava of the Socialist Parliamentary Group Julia María Liberal Liberal about the women's professional soccer league in the 2021-2022 season.

The minister He highlighted the “work done” by his ministry and the “commitment of the Government to women's sport, supported by both the General State Budgets and European funds”. The minister recalled that on February 18 the first collective agreement for women's football was signed in Spain, which establishes, among other labor improvements, the minimum wage and protection against pregnancy. And he advanced that, at this time, through the Higher Sports Council, continues “open dialogue with associations, unions, clubs, players and the Royal Spanish Football Federation” with the aim of “establishing consensus”.

“The number of licenses has almost been multiplied by three,” he added. Rodríguez Uribes. Between 2018 and 2019 the increase allowed reaching the figure of 71,276 licenses, said “professionalization of women's football a matter of rights”. “We have to take equality seriously and that will mean reducing the pay gap“he snapped. In addition, Rodríguez Uribes reiterated the Government's commitment to women's sports, as reflected in the General State Budgets and pointed out that “Sport is a right, one of the ten driving policies of the European Union”, recalling that the global figure for women's sport is 15.7 million euros, which represents an increase of 540% compared to the previous year.