The Spanish women’s team takes another important step in its development, now it does so in the offices. The Federation announced this morning that it will equalize the economic conditions of the women’s and men’s teams. There was a word that was repeated in the Las Rozas press room: “historic”. This was explained by the players, the representative of the union and, of course, the president of the RFEF, Luis Rubiales. “Today is a historic day and we are excited to share it with you. On behalf of all the players, I wanted to thank the Federation for being able to reach such an important agreement, and to demonstrate with facts its interest in continuing to push our senior team”, explained Irene Paredes, captain of the Red. “It’s historic. We speak of nothing more and nothing less than equality and sharing conditions with our colleagues”, added Amanda Gutiérrez, lawyer for FutPro, the first union dedicated to women’s soccer. And Rubiales concluded: “It is an important day. The deal is at the forefront of world football.”
Negotiations between the captains of the women’s team and representatives of the federation began last year. “At all times the federation has been predisposed,” said Amanda Gutiérrez. “But”, clarified Rubiales; “they have been long”. The conversations had a singularity: the players asked to be advised by FutPro, as well as by Reyes Bellver, a lawyer specializing in sports law. “It has been a novelty, it was always done directly with the players and the players”, added the president of the Federation. The pact will have a duration of five years, which is expected to reach the next two Europeans – the first begins on July 6 and the second will be held in 2025 – and the world championships in 2023 and 2027. “Hopefully also for the Olympic Games” , completed Rubiales.
With the agreement, in addition to specifying equality in the bonuses that the players receive with respect to the men, the image rights that the soccer players will receive are also regularized and improvements were achieved in the working conditions of the players. “It is important to clarify that the federation does not pay salaries or allowances. Premiums and premium advances will be paid. All the players will have a percentage of the sponsorships that arrive from now on. The distribution that is made of this percentage is already up to them”, remarked the president of the RFEF.
