SAFP President Lucien Valloni:
• SAFP demands the equality of women with men by the SFV in the area of the women’s national team in financial and other areas.
• SAFP demands the resumption of the collective bargaining agreement negotiations for better working conditions for women in the national team, which were strictly rejected by the SFV.
• SAFP demands that the SFV finally implements the new protection regulations for pregnant women, which FIFA has designated as mandatory, in the national team and in the Women’s Super League.
• SAFP is demanding that the marketing of the women’s national team be separate from that of the men’s team, so that it is clear which revenues must be mandatorily used for women’s football.
SAFP has submitted a draft collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to the SFV in November 2021, which contains many proposals for equality of the women’s national team with the men’s and which also demands financial equality and the same professional care and accommodations as for the men. SAFP also wants financial compensation for women to take into account the fact that women earn much less than men in their clubs and in some cases even have to take time off from their employers outside of football to travel with the national team. In December 2021, the SFV rejected CBA negotiations.
The SFV has so far also refused to implement the maternity protection provisions introduced by FIFA, which should have been introduced at national level as of June 2021, even though FIFA describes these provisions as mandatory. SAFP is now once again demanding that the SFV immediately introduce these maternity protection provisions in the national team and in the Women’s Super League.
Currently, the federation is hiding behind joint marketing and is not in a position to say how much is taken for women and how much for men. However, it is clear that much more is spent on men and has been for decades. It is time to change this and achieve equality at this level as well. Since the women in their clubs usually have very low wages or no wages at all, that part of the large sums that the SFV receives from FIFA and UEFA for women’s football is also invested in wages for the players. Only in this way can a further professionalization of women’s football be achieved. Only with better financial compensation for the players can they concentrate even more on football.
Zurich, 8 March 2022
SAFP President