The players of Spain’s top-tier women’s soccer league began striking on Thursday over salaries and working conditions, ahead of games to be played over the next two weekends.
The strike was called last Friday after talks broke down between various players’ unions and Liga F, the nation’s highest level of women’s soccer. Though talks continued throughout the week, Liga F announced Wednesday they could not reach a deal, ESPN reported. The strike will hit the first two rounds of play, including Friday’s scheduled league opener between Sevilla and Tenerife.
The strikers are seeking “fair and just treatment,” the Spanish Players’ Association (AFE) said in a statement last week. That means, among other things, narrowing the salary gap between themselves and the male players in La Liga.
The women are looking for a minimum salary of 25,000 euros (about $27,000) for the upcoming season, with an increase to 30,000 euros (about $32,000) the following year. Last year’s salary was just 16,000 euros ($17,400), during the league’s first season since turning fully professional.
In contrast, the minimum salary for player’s in the men’s top league is 182,000 euros ($197,000), according to The Associated Press.
The women also want their contracts to continue during maternity leave, and are requesting the same nutritional and physical therapy professionals as the men, The New York Times reported.
Liga F initially offered a minimum 18,000 euro (about $19,000) salary that would increase to 25,000 euros over three seasons, along with child-care assistance, financial aid for study and other benefits. Liga F said in a statement that its offer would give the players a 25% increase and bristled at the union’s “absolute immobility” and “incomprehensible attitude.”
“We consider the economic proposal of the Liga F unacceptable,” said AFE, one of five unions representing the players.
Spanish football has been in turmoil since the country’s soccer federation President Luis Rubiales planted a nonconsensual kiss on the lips of player Jennifer Hermosa after the team’s first-time Women’s World Cup win last month. The move has been condemned by everyone from the men’s soccer team to Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Hermosa has filed a sexual assault criminal complaint. The national team has already said they will not play until current management has been replaced.
With News Wire Services
