Spanish women footballers to go on strike over pay and conditions

In a rare move, Spanish women footballers are set to go on strike for the opening two weeks of the new season of Liga F over pay and conditions.

FUTPRO, an Association of Professional Football Players, announced on Thursday that women footballers in Liga F, the highest level of league competition for women’s football in Spain, would go on strike, demanding salary increase and dignified treatment for women footballers. 

The new season of Liga F is due to start on Friday. However, footballers in the top tier of women’s football in Spain will walk out for the first two games because of a disagreement in the minimum salary for women footballers. 

The Spanish Players Association said that the strike was needed to put forward demand in front of the authorities. 

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Spanish women footballers demand fair salaries

The five unions representing the women footballers said that they were demanding fair salaries. The minimum salary for women footballers was 16,000 euros during the last season. They were requesting the authorities to increase the minimum wage to 25,000 euros for the 2023-24 season.

AEF, the largest of several unions that are negotiating salaries on behalf of the women footballers, said that the strike was required to address and reduce the existing pay gap between male and female players.

Liga F said that the league cannot accept proposals that lead to the economic collapse of the prestigious competition. Liga F said that the league was already paying a minimum salary of 18,000 euros to women footballers.

In a statement, Liga F said that the league can only increase the minimum wage to €25,000 over three seasons. Liga F said it offered various options to the unions but they rejected the proposals. 

According to reports and knowledgeable sources, Liga F agreed to increase current salaries by 25% to 20,000 euros along with other measures like family reconciliation, childcare and financial aid to study, maternity, breastfeeding and training benefits. Liga F said in a statement that the union denied the proposal. 

Meanwhile, the first round of the games is due to take place from 8 to 10 September. The second round of the games will take place from 15 to 17 September.