They were tired of waiting and decided to take action by founding a union for and exclusively for women’s football. An initiative promoted by two players from Barça and the National Team, Andrea Pereira and Patri Guijarro, which has spread to a large number of changing rooms in a spectacular way, with very majority support in clubs such as Barça, Real Sociedad or Athletic. “There was a great fatigue in the changing rooms. We, the players of the biggest clubs, took a step forward because we are the ones that have the least fear or pressure from our clubs“, assures Pereira in an interview with AS.
Such has been the impact of their fatigue that this union, in which all its members are players except the president and lawyer, Amanda Gutiérrez, it was launched in November and in January it won the union elections, beating AFE. “I didn’t think we were going to win. They put many obstacles in the elections and we could not be in the constitution of any table”, tells the president of this union to AS.
“There are players who are in unions for boots, scholarships, etc.”
The lawyer recounts that when several players told her about the idea of founding a union, she refused. “People told me that the players were going to leave me lying at the moment of truth and it is not like that. As the months passed, the matter became more serious and the players always supported me. There are many, many players who don’t care about boots, scholarships and are coming to FutPro because they want to change things,” Amanda points out.
Regarding the elections, Pereira says that the soccer players were very calm and knew that they were going to win. “We were confident that we were going to win because there was a large number of players who had been dissatisfied with AFE for some time. I think there are many players who are in some unions for boots, scholarships, etc. We are committed to this union with the aim of achieving something that improves the professional present and future of all of us. I prefer to have a decent agreement and pay for my boots“, emphasizes Pereira, who criticizes the little progress that has been made by the institutions over the years.
“The excuse of COVID was made, which is true that everything stopped. But then once the confinement was over and the year of the great COVID crisis, it has not been possible to grow in rights and others either. The players have made progress and the test is the Ballon d’Or or Alexia’s The Best, but the institutions have dedicated themselves more to wars than for the category to grow in these years”, specifies Andrea Pereira.
FutPro, a union “without wars of power or influence”
Barça’s defense reflects on the fact that two Barça players have led this project. “In the end we want to have a competitive League and for that we all have to grow. The players of Barça or the National Team also have an easier time being heard because we don’t have that pressure from the club as there are in some cases and we have a good image of success that can serve as a springboard for all this type of thing. It is easier for us to be critical of women’s football because our situation at Barça is very good and the club does not pressure us because it is calm with what it does. There are other clubs that pressure their players not to speak“.
For her part, Amanda assures that the key to FutPro is that it was born with the sole objective of “fighting to improve the conditions of the players without wars of power or influence.” “They are very tired of the wars inherited from the masculine”, adds after knowing that they will be the majority union (6 members) in the negotiations for the agreement. A document in which they want to address points such as salary, partiality, maternity and the Compensation List. The players want to keep moving forward and will do what it takes. And it is that they no longer only break down barriers in the field. They also do it outside of it. This union is proof of that.
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