FIFA to provide female players and coaches with greater protections

FIFA are set to introduce two reforms that will provide greater protections to female players and coaches surrounding maternity pay and rights.

The FIFA Football Stakeholders Committee has provided backing to two new sets of reforms that will look to provide greater protections to female players and coaches. These reforms aim to establish new global minimum standards for female players, particularly in relation to maternity. Key measures included in the reforms are mandatory maternity leave of at least 14 weeks, at a minimum of two thirds of the player’s contracted salary with no one suffering a disadvantage in employment because they have become pregnant.

Greater protections are also being ensured for coaches so that they can be sure of contractual stability and confident that their rights will not be infringed. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said “Following the recent phenomenal growth and the unprecedented success of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France last year, women’s football is now entering its next stage of development. It follows that we also have to adopt a regulatory framework that is appropriate and suitable to the needs of the women’s game. Coaches play a vital role in the game, but historically they have been left outside the football regulatory framework. We needed to plug this gap and recognise the key role they have.”

The new set of rules for players and coaches were unanimously endorsed by the FIFA Football Stakeholders Committee at its meeting on 18 November 2020, and will be put forward for the FIFA Council’s final approval in December 2020.

To read the FIFA statement click here.