Alicia Arévalo (Barcelona, ??1998) was the voice of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand for TVE. Football is his life, in front of and behind the cameras. He has recently jumped from traditional football to the Queens League with Aniquiladores FC and combines this with his successful career as a journalist. Just a year ago, she became the first woman to narrate a match in a men’s World Cup.

After that Croatia-Belgium match he said: “Now the door is open to more women”. How do you see it a year later?

I was the first to narrate a match in a World Cup, but before that other journalists had broken glass ceilings: Danae Boronat, Alba Oliveros, Andrea Segura… There are quite a few of us narrators who are already involved. It’s true that a World Cup is a different scenario, with a lot more visibility, and that’s why I think it was a step forward.

Do you remember what it was like the day you were offered to go to Qatar?

Yes, obviously. There was the director of Teledeporte, Javier Grima, and the general director of sports of RTVE, Arsenio Cañada, in an office, they called me and said: “Listen, how would you like to go on a trip to Qatar ?”. I thought they were playing a joke on me.

Ethically did it pose any dilemma?

It is true that traveling to a country where women are so unprotected can cause a bit of rejection at first, but on the other hand I thought it was a good opportunity to show the inhabitants of this country that women it is valid for doing anything, also for narrating a football match.

Since then do you feel more doors have opened?

Nothing has changed for me at work, I have continued to have the same opportunities, but I do consider that TVE has been an example of giving opportunities to female talents. For him to take a young 24-year-old girl like me and offer her the possibility to narrate a game in a World Cup, I think it sends a positive message.

This summer she was the voice of the Women’s World Cup. What was it like to narrate Olga Carmona’s goal?

I have fulfilled a dream. I couldn’t sleep the night before, I was very nervous. If Spain scored, that goal would go down in history, I had to be up to it, I wanted to do well. I had three or four sentences, even handwritten, but nothing, I didn’t even look at them, I let myself be carried away by the emotion.

Are you afraid that women are pigeonholed in women’s football?

We are no longer only classified in women’s sport, we are also starting to make a place for ourselves in competitions that, even a short time ago, were only narrated by men.

What would you say to those who say that female voices are not so pleasant to hear?

I would tell them that they have to adapt, society is changing and we shouldn’t pigeonhole a sport into a single voice register. We have always heard football in more serious voices, more masculine voices, and now they are listening to football in more feminine voices. And it is costing them because there is no precedent. Changing habits is difficult, but little by little we are on the way to reversing the mentality of certain people.

Do you get a lot of hate on social media?

Less and less. When I started, obviously I wasn’t at the level I am now, I’ve been getting better and when you start something you might not feel completely comfortable in and on top of that you get criticism it makes the road to learning

Did you even consider quitting?

At several points I was about to throw in the towel because I was spending so many hours preparing for matches and all I got was 20 social media notifications insulting me. What if “Renoi with the level of commentators”, “Why don’t they change her?”, “Why should women be given a voice if they are worthless?”… At first I was quite frustrated, but luckily I had several colleagues from here on TV and my family and friends encouraging me not to give up.

In addition to being a journalist, she is a Queens League player.

The format appealed to me and it was easy to combine it with my work. It is very different from traditional football, much more egalitarian. There are no differences between men and women, we pay the same, we are under the same conditions and this makes football more equitable.