Women’s football is becoming more and more established in Germany and is looking for the big stage. Giulia Gwinn is emblematic of this. However, the German captain rejects equal pay for men and women in football.
Women’s football is currently developing at a rapid pace and is attracting more and more spectators. The 2029 European Championship was recently awarded to Germany. This week, the clubs in the women’s Bundesliga also founded a new league association to better promote women’s football. Giulia Gwinn from FC Bayern Women welcomes these development steps, but in “Blickpunkt Sport” she clearly rejects the demand for “equal pay” as in men’s football.
Gwinn about EM 2029 in Germany: “It gives me goosebumps again”
In four years, the world of women’s football will be visiting Germany again for the first time in 18 years. The last major tournament was the 2011 World Cup. “It gives me goosebumps again,” says Gwinn, referring to the European Championships in his own country. “You know you basically have the chance to be part of it. And the development that women’s football is taking will hopefully continue in the next few years.”
The German captain only found out in the summer how well women’s football is now being received. “We’ve now felt that in Switzerland, what it’s like to play in front of a lot of spectators, to see these fan marches, public viewing in our own country.” She is therefore feeling “pure anticipation” for the 2029 European Championships.
Women’s football is looking for the big stage and is founding its own league association
The tournament is played in large stadiums such as Dortmund, Munich and Cologne. Women’s football is already a frequent guest there. The FC Bayern Women played against Arsenal FC in the Champions League in the big arena. They set a record attendance at the league opener against Leverkusen. Before the season, the women’s Bundesliga was increased from twelve to fourteen teams. The newly promoted Nuremberg, Hamburg and Union Berlin all play in the large men’s stadiums. “They bring a very, very cool fan base and play in big stadiums,” says Gwinn happily.
Hoeneß rails against “equal pay”
Union Berlin is a particular newcomer. The “equal pay” principle has applied in Köpenick since the 2022/2023 season. This means that the soccer players earn enough to play their sport professionally. The issue of “equal pay” is heating up people’s minds. “When I hear ‘Equal Pay’, I laugh my ass off,” Uli Hoeneß recently said at a sports trade fair. “Equal pay means equal income”. Giulia Gwinn and her colleagues know that millions in salaries are currently not possible due to the low turnover of women’s football. “I’ve never talked about equal pay because I just don’t think it’s realistic at the moment. What we keep talking about is equal play.”
Gwinn calls for “equal play” instead of “equal pay”
Alexandra Popp, Gwinn’s predecessor with the captain’s ribbon in the DFB team, had also made similar statements. The idea of “equal play” means that women and men should have the same conditions, both in terms of infrastructure and finances. In the women’s Bundesliga, this has only been the case for a few clubs such as FC Bayern. “We actually have the best possible conditions to develop perfectly. But there are many clubs in the first division, even in the second division, that don’t have that,” complains Gwinn. In most clubs, the players study or work part-time.
Gwinn welcomes the founding of the FBL league association
This week, the fourteen teams in the women’s Bundesliga founded their own league association in order to further advance the development of the league, especially in terms of marketing. Giulia Gwinn welcomes the founding of the “Frauen-Bundesliga FBL eV”. She sees “through this collective that all clubs are also included, […] a very, very great appeal.” That is “exactly what we need in women’s football for the next few years in order to really create this fair competition in the league.”
So that football can continue to develop in the future.
In the video: EM 2029 and League association founded: Women’s football is making progress
Source: Blickpunkt Sport December 14, 2025 – 9:45 p.m
