The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) “looks favourably” at the Collective Bargaining Agreement (ACT) for women’s football, unveiled firsthand today by DN, in which the Players Union proposes an equalization of the minimum wage between men and women in Portuguese football. That is three minimum wages for BPI League professionals, which corresponds to 2280 euros per month. This is the amount practiced in the men’s I League (in the II League it is two minimum wages, according to the ACT agreed with Liga Portugal on behalf of the clubs).
The body headed by Fernando Gomes received the document today and immediately sent it to the clubs, “so that they can reflect and comment”, noting that since the 2020-21 season it has been working with the Union of Players on matters such as salary compensation, maternity and sexual harassment.
Facing the document, before traveling with the national team to New Zealand, where Portugal on the 22nd playoff access to the 2023 World Cup, against Thailand or Cameroon, the captain was short of words. “With all due respect, at the moment we are focused on representing the national team. These are other issues, other matters. We continue to fight for our rights, but now we are with the game of the playoff in the head”said Dolores Silva, also guaranteeing a squad aimed at “putting Portugal in the biggest league of them all for the first time in history”.
For the president of the union, Joaquim Evangelista, this ACT “shape what the government, what the federation, what the community wants for women in Portugal, for women’s football”. In addition, according to the trade unionist, the document now presented is “progressive, avant-garde, but at the same time sensible, balanced and contrary to what is being proposed by government officials and sports leaders”.
As reported by DN, Joaquim Evangelista expects the document to come into force even before the start of the 2023/24 season, following negotiations with the clubs to ensure that it does not need to be approved by the General Assembly.
And with the professionalization of the championship, that is still amateurish in mind. “We want the League to go professional, the whole logic of women’s football is based on this, on the professionalization of football. We want to have more practitioners, we create expectations for young women, instead of creating insecurity, we need to provide stability, which is given through contracts and minimal economic stability,” the trade unionist told Lusa agency.
Joaquim Evangelista believes that everything has grown in women’s football from income to practitioners to supporters and that this is the merit of the players and they should all have equal minimum conditions because that is the only way “it is possible to to make progress”. . And it will be “strange” if you find restraint at the clubs.
Despite being amateur leagues (both the BPI League and II Division), the number of professional contracts has only increased over the past five years, according to FPF data. This season in Liga BPI there are 191 players with professional contracts among the 12 participating clubs, although only Benfica, Sporting and Sp. Braga has 100% professional teams.
Source: DN
