Prejudice and abuse are some of the 'major problems' still rife in woman's football says Fifpro
Written by Ben Harrison 04/05/2020
A report released by Fifpro on Thursday the 30th of April found "discrimination, sexual harassment and abuse" are all major issues that are occurring on a regular basis throughout the woman’s side of the game. Prejudice towards women playing football is "continuous across many regions of the world" and too many face adverse labour conditions, says world players' was also stated by Fifpro in their report. Some of these issues were bought to light more recently where Megan Rapinoe and the US woman’s side seek settlement for non-equal pay compared to the men’s team. Whilst the case was rejected by the judge, the judge did admit that they were subject to discriminatory working conditions, receiving inferior travel, accommodation and medical attention compared to the men’s team.
Following the release of the report, Fifpro explained “discrimination, sexual harassment and abuse” remain key issues in women’s football “across many regions of the world”. Whilst they noted considerable progress is still consistently being made, Fifpro were clear that there is much more room for progress in the woman’s game. An example that was provided by Fifpro was that salaries have increased from $2,350 a month in 2016 to $3,980 a month in 2018 when the top and bottom 5% are omitted from results. Yet, 3.6% of survey respondents said they received no salary whatsoever.
Among the report was a survey that was conducted at the 2019 World Cup. Within this survey it was found that more than half of the participants claimed that there were not enough staff placed at their club to fulfil their playing needs. From the same survey, 41% said they do not receive health insurance from their club, while only 3% received help to relocate after a transfer and 17% said they receive no non-financial benefits from their club.
The report also highlighted issues with facilities for woman’s teams in Colombia, one of the countries that is bidding to host the 2023 woman’s world cup. Colombian player's union Acolfutpro found in 2019 that eight out of the 20 training pitches used by teams in the Colombia women's professional league "were not suitable for professional football", as some pitches were found without grass, some changing rooms lacked showers and some venues even lacked changing rooms themselves.
Whilst this highlighted the problems with Colombia’s bid, it could benefit them in the long run. They face rivalling bids from Japan, Brazil, and an Australian/New Zealand combination. The report stated that overall, the playing conditions in Colombia were challenging for all, but in particular the woman’s facilities lacked the standard set. This may spur an improvement in conditions as the current facilities are not suitable for a world cup to be host there.
Overall, the report shows the improvement and growth that can clearly be seen in woman’s football, but there are still levels of prejudice and abuse that need to be addressed if woman’s football is to make the progress it wants.