Women’s football is going through a crucial moment because once the League is classified as professional, the lack of agreement by the parties involved to bring this transition to a successful conclusion is generating tension, uncertainty and fear in its protagonists.. We talked about all this at the AFE headquarters with its president, David aganzo; the delegate Tania tabanera and the lawyer Maria Jose Lopez.
Question. How are you living this transition towards professionalization?
Answer. We are in a critical and backward situation. We as a union do not have any intention as the Federation, the League, the clubs or even the Government can have, but we go with the footballers. We defend our colleagues and we do not want to wear any kind of medals. There are situations in which they are being used by the different institutions and it is palpable because many of them have different versions of the same event and that only hurts the soccer player.
Q. What can be done?
R. We do not take a step without the approval of our colleagues, but we understand that it is a delicate situation and we must raise the alarm. The situation is untenable and if it continues like this, the death of women’s football could come. Everything we have created in two years can be ruined. And I do not enter to debate whose fault it is.
Q. Can this situation affect the Collective Bargaining Agreement?
R. [María José] The Convention is not in danger, it is what safeguards footballers. Yes, there is a difficulty because we are at the expense of creating a new employer resulting from that Professional League and we can see ourselves in the situation of negotiating at two tables with two partners different who will make decisions that may be incompatible. That is nonsense.
Q. And the revision of the Convention?
R. [María José] The important thing is that there is an Agreement because if not it was impossible for there to be a Professional League. Most of the protagonists are the same as those in the men’s LaLiga. I do not know if they are bringing all their troubles to the female and is serving as a dunghill. It is a lack of respect for the work of the players. When they went on strike for the signing of the Agreement, there was great social support, but when push comes to shove, everyone disappears.
P. Could a new strike be reached?
R. The strike is a right of the worker. But it’s not a threat, huh? We prefer to sit at a table and debate. Girls do not want wars but to be treated the same as their peers. The feeling of a Professional League is that all clubs are proud to belong to that League. And I am not talking about the solidarity of the big clubs towards the small ones or vice versa, I am talking about that we are all a group so that the League starts, the clubs grow, the players improve their conditions and the Federation feels proud of that competition even if it is not hers.
Q. The CSD says that it now has six months to approve statutes.
R. This should be fixed now. It is not a threat to anyone, it is women’s football that is threatened. They do not want to go on strike, but if our colleagues see it, the solution will be made. I keep asking myself: ‘Who does it favor that this takes so long?’
[María José] AFE cannot accept that premise and even more so if there is a political commitment. Expectations have been created and they must be met. If they agree on the masculine where there are many more interests and there is more judicial conflict, how is it that they do not agree on the feminine? Nobody understands it.
Q. Are the players worried?
R. A lot. We have had meetings with the CSD, the Federation, the clubs … and we are concerned that each one defends its part instead of trying to unite and move forward. The world of football has been fighting for years and they talk more about political or legal issues than about sport. You have to remember that soccer belongs to everyone, but to the players a little more. The institutions should come together so that this continues to grow.
