Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) calls for equal pay for men and women in sport. “Equal pay” should apply especially to national teams, the head of government tweeted on Tuesday. DFB director Oliver Bierhoff was amazed at Scholz’s statement.
“We have 2022,” says the tweet that Scholz published before the kick-off of the German team’s European Championship preliminary round match against Spain on Tuesday evening (07/12/22). Men and women should be paid equally – this also applies to sport and especially to national teams. Spain is a role model in this regard. Scholz wishes the DFB players good luck for the game against the Iberians.
DFB director Bierhoff announced in the first sports show that he would talk to the chancellor about “equal pay” in German football. “I’m surprised by the statement. I’m happy to invite him over and then I’ll explain the numbers to him a bit,” Bierhoff said shortly before the European Championship game against Spain kicked off. Bierhoff referred to the record bonus of 60,000 euros for every German national player and the improved infrastructure for women.
Long-lasting debate about payment in sport
The call for “equal pay” or a minimum wage for soccer players has been getting louder for a long time. National player Lina Magull recently demanded in the “Bild” newspaper: “We should earn so well from the second division that nobody has to work part-time anymore. The minimum salary per month she spoke of was 2,000 to 3,000 euros. “That’s how you can develop make sustainable progress in women’s football,” said Magull.
Football collective agreement in Spain since 2019
In Spain, the players have long fought for what Magull and her colleagues in this country have been fighting in vain: more money – for everyone! In the Spanish Liga Primera Iberdrola, the desire for a salary that women can live on is a reality. After more than a year of negotiations and a strike, a collective agreement was signed at the end of 2019 that guarantees a minimum annual salary of 16,000 euros including maternity leave.
While not quite the amount Magull envisioned, it is a “historic” agreement, as David Aganzo, president of the players’ union, said of the win for “dignity, equality and justice”. Previously, 49 percent of female soccer players received no salary at all, 31 percent received less than 500 euros per month.
Voss-Tecklenburg: Minimum salary would be important
National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg can imagine something similar for the German Bundesliga. According to her, a minimum salary based on the Spanish model would be “important, since not all players are professionals”. Magull said she “doesn’t need €10m or €20m a year” but “our salaries should go up so everyone – not just the internationals – can play their sport professionally.”
The demand fits the global call for “equal pay”, which had also become loud in the discussion about the unequal EM bonuses.
Different salaries in Europe
So far, only top players have been able to make a good living from football. The injured German national player Dzsenifer Marozsan, for example, is said to earn 350,000 euros a year from Champions League winners Olympique Lyon, while Australian Sam Kerr from Chelsea FC is the top earner worldwide with 500,000 euros.
Women would also be paid like professionals on the British Isles, otherwise the clubs wouldn’t get a license, Magull reported: “I don’t know why that doesn’t work in Germany.” However, not only DFB colleague Laura Freigang, who commented on “Playboy” on the subject of where the money should come from, is wondering. You can’t “get any money paid out that we don’t bring in”.
DFB Vice President Mammitzsch: We want to develop the market
According to the “Season Report 2020/21”, the twelve Bundesliga clubs together earned 15 million euros – a maximum. “Personnel expenses for match operations” amounted to 1.35 million euros – an increase of 113 percent compared to 2011/12. “The development shows,” said DFB managing director Manuel Hartmann, “that professionalization is progressing.” DFB Vice President Sabine Mammitzsch knows that she’s still a long way from reaching her goal. She wants to “develop the market in such a way that higher salaries can also be paid”.