Every woman is different. Every body is different and reacts in a unique way. Maternity, therefore, affects each woman in a unique way. Both pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum are carried out, both physically and mentally, as each one can. If, in addition, they are professional soccer players, who live off her body, many more factors enter the equation. In a study carried out by FutPro, the majority union, the fears and concerns of the soccer players are addressed. In the world of Spanish football there are few cases, and each one of them is unique.
María de Alharilla, the first to take the step
The captain of Levante, Maria de Alharilla, It has been one of the pioneers in Spanish football. Alharilla has been the first professional player who has decided to take the step of being mother while active. The woman from Jaen gave birth to her second child on July 26, Victor. First, Hugo, 3.5 years old, was gestated by his partner. When she made the decision to be a mother, she had no references, no one had followed that path in Spain. There were many unknowns, and one of them was how her club, to which she has belonged since 2012, was going to face the situation. Without established protocols, decisions in these situations are made by each sports entity.
“Throughout my career I have lived very happy moments, but without a doubt this is magical, sharing the illusion of being a mother with my passion for football. I am very happy, being a mother and a footballer is feasible”, said the team captain Levantine. Alharilla was very lucky. Levante turned to her, giving her resources during pregnancy and postpartum recovery. What’s more, the entity and the soccer player reached an agreement to renew her contract for two more seasons during the months of gestation.
The captain hung up her boots momentarily on October 31, 2021 and just over a year later she dressed again in shorts and tied her boots to return to play a match in the highest category of Spanish football. “I am very happy and happy to contribute things to the team. It is a process, I am taking minutes. I am not 100% and it is part of the process,” she said minutes after reappearing. Alharilla is an example of success and a benchmark that has laid the foundations for many soccer players to do the same.
Marta Corredera, ignored by Madrid
The happiest moment of life Sable Sliding it has been marred by painful and unfair decisions. The footballer of real Madrid announced in January 2022 that she was going to be a mother. Since she made the news public, which the white entity decided not to tell following her communicative secrecy policy, she saw how her club did not support her. She was overwhelmed by the situation and, despite enjoying the pregnancy, the postpartum period was extremely painful.
ona, her little girl, just under a year old, was born by caesarean section. If her body had already undergone changes with the pregnancy, the cesarean section left her with even more sequelae. “I’m not physically well & rdquor ;, Corredera confessed in an interview with DAZN for her mother’s day. The soccer player, hurt by how she had been treated, explained that many lies had been told about her and her pregnancy. “I’m not training, not because I don’t want to, but because I can’t. There are people who have called me selfish and other authentic atrocities without knowing the reality of our life & rdquor ;, added the footballer. Corredera is still immersed in her recovery process while she is on leave and she is counting the days to be able to rejoin and dress short.
Alex Morgan, the image of conciliation
If we think about maternity and professional football there is a name par excellence: Alex Morgan. The North American has become the image of conciliation worldwide. “I wasn’t sure about everything related to being a mother, but pregnancy always seemed so beautiful to me,” Morgan related on her social networks. “Was a my dream, feel that my body changes for a small human being that depends on me for life 100%. Some of those dreams probably stemmed from the fear of not being able to have a healthy pregnancy, or of never having ‘my body’ back. I think these fears inside of me They ignited my passion for pregnancy even more”, the world champion was sincere.
Morgan had her daughter Charlie in 2020, months before playing the Tokyo Olympics, which ended up being postponed due to the pandemic. With that extra time, the North American soccer player was able to arrive in perfect condition after starting her second adventure in European soccer at the hands of tottenham hotspur, six months after giving birth. She is now preparing to play what will be her fourth World Cup.
Sara Björk, pioneer before justice
There are times when, in order to defend one’s rights, one must reach the courts. That’s what the Icelandic woman had to do Sara Bjorkdouble champion of the Champions League with the Lyon Olympics and currently in the Juventus. The midfielder was the first footballer to win an appeal against a football club for non-payment during her pregnancy. The French entity was ordered to pay 82,094.82 euros to Björk.
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The Icelandic woman became pregnant in the spring of 2021 and publicly announced it on April 21 of the same year. On June 8, the National Union of Professional Football Players (UNFP) of France sent a letter to Olympique de Lyon requesting the reason why the salary corresponding to the months of April and May had not been paid in full, nor was it in June. In the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, a player is entitled to receive her full salary during her pregnancy and until the start of maternity leave.
“I want to make sure that no one has to go through what I went through again. And I want Lyon to know that this is not right. This is not ‘just business’. It is about my rights as a worker, as a woman and as a human being. I have high hopes for women’s football,” said the footballer when she decided to make her story public. “There is still a lot of work to be done. We deserve better.”