From the latest survey carried out by the Fifpro union among female footballers who participated in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand last summer, alarming data emerges. Despite the historic attendance and audience records, there is still much work to be done. One in ten internationals did not receive a pre-tournament medical and a dangerous 22% did not have an electrocardiogram before the World Cup. These are two tests provided for in the FIFA regulations, but even then they were not always met, as this survey reflects. “Any figure below 100 percent, with respect to the ECG [electrocardiogram], or the pre-tournament medical examination, is not acceptable,” says Dr. Alex Culvin, Director of Strategy and Research for Women’s Soccer at Fifpro. “Football players must complete these important checks before competing, and the regulations must be fully applied and respected,” he concludes.
Fifpro has surveyed 260 footballers from 26 of the 32 nations that participated in the last World Cup and the answers give problems in aspects as important as the health, rest or economic conditions of the athletes.
The average break that the internationals had since their participation in the World Cup ended and they rejoined the discipline of their clubs was less than two weeks. 86% had less than 13 days off. “I was trying to rest and prepare at the same time, which actually doesn’t work,” complained one player in the survey. “It’s mentally exhausting,” said another. The FC Barcelona internationals who played in the World Cup final, such as Aitana Bonmatí, Ona Batlle, Keira Walsh or Lucy Bronze, for example, only had 17 days since they played in the final on August 20 and put on the orders of Jonatan Giráldez on September 6.
On the economic side, there are also still serious differences. One in three World Cup footballers earns less than 28,000 euros a year for their activity in football, which means that one in five has to supplement their income with a second job.
This year, for the first time in history, FIFA approved a remuneration system for women footballers. The federations are obliged to pay their players an amount of their earnings for their participation in the tournament. An amount that starts at 28,000 euros to participate in the group stage and that goes up as the team overcomes the qualifiers. The problem is that the money continues to end up in the coffers of the federations and some have not yet distributed it among their footballers. Those who have received these payments confess that in many cases it has meant “changing their lives”, but it is estimated that around 20% of the footballers who participated in the World Cup have not yet received the payment. FIFA says it has distributed all the money and that it has provided “customized support” to the countries to make the distribution. The governing body of world football has assured that it will ensure that this measure is complied with and that it will audit the federations “when appropriate”.