December 23, 2020 - Opinion
The Primera División Femenina, the top division for women’s soccer in Spain, boasts some of the most amazing talents in the sport, with Spain’s national team already pushing the United States to their limits. The league is still in the early stages becoming one of the world’s most highly regarded divisions, with a prospering set of international youth development squads and wide-ranging interest. The Primera División is known for being technical, competitive, and passionate towards improvement and success. Even with recent improvements, the Primera División has been hindered by the lack of support given from the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), the federation that all registered top division soccer teams in Spain are held under.
These hindrances are concerning in regards to gender equality. Greater assets and recognition within the women’s game are further developed elsewhere. Young talents such as Damaris Egurrola and Ona Batlle are departing Spanish league for other opportunities. Although England’s FA Women’s Super League (WSL) has attracted major talents in the past few seasons, the RFEF and other organizations linked have prevented the growth of talent in women’s soccer through gender inequality and illogical decision-making.
Over the past decade, the treatment of female players in Spain has not gone unnoticed. Players have resigned from the national team both on their own merit and unwillingly, who could have easily been on the roster for this past World Cup. By this time last year, the Selección Española de Fútbol Femenina (the Spanish National Team most commonly referred to as the Selección) had waited over a year for the RFEF to discuss concerns. The Selección were tired and ready for change. As strides towards gender equality were made in other countries, Spain were fighting for recognition.
Last November, all but one player from the Primera División forgoed play to highlight the ongoing issues with the Asociación de Clubes de Fútbol Femenino (the union that represents all Primera División clubs with the exceptions of Barcelona, Athletic Club Bilbao, and Real Madrid), commonly referred to as the ACFF. In direct action against ACFF, these 200 players boycotted their league fixtures by way of the Asociación de Futbolistas Españoles (Association of Spanish Footballers) or AFE. The RFEF held the position of moderator for the discussions. The RFEF’s biased point of view showed in their unacknowledgement of other representitives.
The AFE made clear in their requests that lavish treatment is not the goal. It is apparent to the players, that taking small steps forward is far better than not moving at all. Major points in the statement from the AFE include a minimum yearly salary of 16,000 euros (19,062 dollars), maternity leave, and a protocol for injuries on the field. Without these basic rights, a full-time women’s league is not a sustainable option. As is pointed out year after year, clubs making Champions League finals, packing 60,000 people into a stadium, or competing with the best teams in the world deserve to be valued by the people that represent them professionally. Regardless of gender and economic status, no league should be left behind in the larger fight for equality in women’s sports.
The excuses from the RFEF and the ACFF are based in a document published in 1991, older than close to 90% of the latest Spanish Women’s National Team roster. The RFEF holds control over royal decrees given out to enforce policy. The official Royal Decree on Spanish Sports Federations and Registry of Sports Associations states that no one sport can have two professional leagues simultaneously. This decree disallows the Primera División’s professionalization. In 1991, the RFEF had not put significant thought into creating a women’s division. Thirty years of dedication from both the players and societal shifts have proven the decree to be severely outdated.
On August 26, 2020, the AFE released a statement in contingency with the players, highlighting their fight against injustice. The declarations stated that although the RFEF does not recognize the Primera División as professional, the obligations placed upon their players are reason to counteract these claims. These are athletes who have full working weeks and sacrifice their livelihood for a sport that will never earn them money. These are athletes that have fought endlessly against a federation that will only benefit the opposite gender.
This year, the league started the first weekend of October due to the lack of attention given to COVID-19. Already, 12 matches have been postponed. The opening weekend of the Primera División puts their starting date as later than every other top five ranked league within the UEFA women’s association. In addition, the RFEF refused to make significant changes to a transfer compensation placed on 17 players under the age of 23 over the summer. Complaints were expressed and further turmoil bubbled up under the surface.
ACFF finally caved a month after the start of the season. They put forth a protocol to meet the obligations from a strike just over a year before, allowing for maternity leave, adding to their agreement for 16,000 euro salaries, and providing a protocol for detrimental injuries. The biggest news came from a long overdue announcement by the RFEF. The top two women’s divisions in Spain would now be able to call themselves professional. The players would finally receive minimum decency, and namesake to their work, but still remain in the fight for what they rightfully deserve as professional, full-time, athletes.
In light of the continuous fight for rights against the ACFF and the RFEF, a collective agreement was signed to standardize working conditions. This is the first step to ensure the continued advancement of women’s sports in Spain. Inexplicably, the agreement also put forth restrictions for any player looking to switch clubs under the age of 23. This left a group of 17 talents looking to improve their careers elsewhere. For those viewing through the lens of a general male soccer fan, it may come across as a mere annoyance or a possible delay in stardom. For a woman, getting the chance to move to a larger club does not just allow for successes within the sport but also better in housing, injury prevention, mental health, and a cushion for life after retirement. Female players do not get the luxury of a well paid career in athletics.
As the compensation fees do not extend to different leagues, two players opted to leave the Primera División entirely, while many decided to go on loan. As Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmatí stated, it is not possible for clubs to pay a sum of 250,000 or 500,000 euros to buy a player. As yet another misconception about the women’s game arises, audiences must realize that clubs in the Primera División could not possibly possess that amount of money with such limited funding. These 17 players must either choose to battle against their federation or leave the Spanish league entirely. For Ona Batlle and Damaris Egurrola, this meant venturing to England.
Although the WSL holds its fair share of questionable decisions towards women’s sports, the league is thriving. The WSL turned heads in 2020 with the most expensive transfers in the history of the women’s game in Pernille Harder and Sam Kerr.
For Batlle and Egurrola, the sky is the limit in the WSL. Both players have the ability to put their full focus into soccer, officially being able to call their job a legal profession. They will challenge the top players in the world and, in Batlle’s case, play alongside World Cup champions. Every league match will be streamed for free on an app that can be accessed via any place with an internet connection, and media channels will focus on big competitions. This is not to say the WSL will live up to their male counterparts in terms of pay and accommodation. Nevertheless, it is a possibility. By driving young players out of the Spain, the Primera División not only loses valuable talent, but also fails to give younger players a chance to learn from experienced teammates and opponents.
No one can explain the incompetence of the RFEF better than the players who have played for the Selección. Spanish players are brilliant, brave with the ball, and quick and tidy going forward. Each youth age group of the Spanish National Team have reached international finals in the past few years, carrying home silverware and being coined “the Golden Generation.” There have been “Golden Generations.” The RFEF views these youth international successes as their job well done in women’s soccer.
The first time a Spanish women’s under-19 team won the UEFA Women’s European Championship (Euros) was in 2004. Star players Vero Boquete and Natalia Pablos reigned supreme. Barcelona legend Soni Bermúdez competed in the same tournament the year before. Three years prior to that, prolific forward Adriana Martín was the top-scorer at the under-18 level. The Spanish federation had heaps of talent to work with, but it was not until 2013 when the Selección qualified for a major tournament. This was 16 years after their previous Euros appearance.
Spain found limited success in 2013, with their greatest triumph beating England 3-2 in added time. The 2004 “Golden Generation” were entering their final years of prosperous play and a new generation had begun to take over. This generation, coined again as future stars, had won the Under-19 Euros twice at the turn of the decade. Vero Boquete, Natalia Pablos, Soni Bermúdez, and Adriana Martín realized that better opportunities lay outside of the Primera División. England, the United States, and Germany were the hotspots for international competition.