As sports director of Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, Simon Rolfes does not believe in equalizing salaries for women and men in football.
“That’s the wrong approach for me. Salaries always have something to do with income,” said the ex-national player at a panel discussion on the “Rheinische Post”. “Women’s football doesn’t help if higher salaries are paid. The woman in question at the moment, but not football itself with its structure.”
In the debate about “equal pay” (same payment), national player Lina Magull had pleaded for a minimum wage for all players in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga on the sidelines of the European Championship in England. “We footballers should earn so well from the 2nd league that nobody has to work part-time anymore. We’re talking about a minimum salary of 2,000 or 3,000 euros a month. That way you can promote development in women’s football in the long term,” said the offensive player from FC Bayern Munich the “image”.
The 27-year-old had emphasized that she didn’t need ten or 20 million euros a year. “It is clear that our salaries should rise so that everyone – not just the national players – can practice their sport professionally, and the high sums for men should be adjusted, also because it is oversized compared to many other professions,” said Magull.
A development must be initiated that creates better conditions, said Rolfes, referring to their own women’s Bundesliga team. “If you look at England, you can see that the stadiums are filling up,” said the 40-year-old. “To push this development in Germany is an important story and can only be done by the big Bundesliga clubs.”