World players’ union Fifpro say prejudice and abuse remain major issues for women’s football despite major growth seen in recent years.
Fifpro released a report last week that investigated the state of women’s football across the world following FIFA’s Women’s World Cup in 2019. As part of their investigations, the union surveyed 186 players from the World Cup about their experiences as women playing football.
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 praising the growth of the women’s game seen across the world and noting the generally rising salaries, Fifpro were keen to emphasise the progress that still needs to be made.
For example, 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.
Fifpro has called for the introduction of global standards to address these adverse labour conditions with the revelation that 41% of those surveyed do not receive health insurance from their club.
The situation in Colombia is especially concerning with eight of 20 training pitches used in the professional league deemed “not suitable for professional football”.
This revelation is especially concerning considering Colombia is one of four countries currently bidding to host the next women’s World Cup in 2023.
Speaking to the BBC about these findings, Fifpro general secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffman said: “There are always two ways of looking at this. On the one hand, that doesn't give a very good indication that they're up to it.
“On the other hand, the question is, would a move to bid [for the tournament] now lead to improved conditions? We have to see what the reality is.”