FIFPRO guide for players during pregnancy and after childbirth is another step in a global movement

It was written in consultation with current and former player-moms Crystal Dunn, Cheyna Matthews, Almuth Schult and Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir.

You can find the guide here.

The guide comes as international soccer is paying closer attention to both maternity and other parental issues as the women’s game has grown. FIFA implemented ground-breaking rules regarding pay, leave and contracts for parents in 2021, and updated them earlier this year.

The FIFA protocols give both players and coaches a minimum of 14 weeks of paid maternity leave, and a minimum of eight weeks paid leave for those who adopt a child younger than two. There is also a minimum eight weeks paid for women who are non-biological parents of newborns.

Those rules are more comprehensive than seen in other sports, in part because FIFA is unique in that it sets guidelines internationally for both national and club players and teams.

While laws in some nations — or collective bargaining agreements in the case of both the USWNT and the NWSL — already provide certain protections, FIFA’s move to codify protections was significant in guiding national teams in countries without protections.

FIFA and FIFPRO are also encouraging member associations to provide family-friendly environments for players with children.

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In a conversation prior to the Olympics, Sarai Bareman, FIFA’s chief women’s soccer officer, told me that there were subtle changes implemented during the Women’s World Cup last year that emphasized a more family-friendly environment for all. For example, child carseats were available for all World Cup-related transportation.

“In a FIFA Women’s World Cup, [a player] can potentially be away from her family for five or six weeks … and that can have a big toll on the player, mentally, but also on the child,” said Bareman. “So, encouraging the member associations to make provision or to allow for those mothers and parents to have the children with them during the camp, during the tournament, is a really important step which will support not only female players but all players in our sport.”

The message? Bareman said it’s to normalize maternity and parental rights in the sport. Players should not have to choose between their careers and starting a family.

Cheyna Matthews, who played for Jamaica at the World Cup and in the NWSL before her retirement last year, has three children. She recalled that back in 2018, she was one of the first players to navigate mid-career pregnancy and recovery. Thanks to the new regulations, more players are considering motherhood or have children.

At the same time, greater professionalization has made it possible for more players to make a living playing soccer. And that’s what makes the FIFPRO guide essential, she said.

“We play a lot of times because we love it. But now it’s also providing the financial security. So when you’re thinking of having children it’s like, ‘OK, I also have to figure out how I can get back to work.’ And when you’re working with your body, it’s one of the most important things,” Matthews said.

The medical professionals who contributed to the FIFPRO guide were Dr. Pippa Bennett of the U.K. Sports Institute; Dr. Rita Tomas, the team physician for the Portuguese women’s national team; professor Kirsty Elliott-Sale with the Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Sport; and FIFPRO chief medial officer Dr. Vincent Gouttebarge.

“There is this perceived incompatibility, not just in football, in sport more generally, that you can’t have a child and be an athlete. And actually there are players out there who have disproven this on a daily basis,” said Dr. Alex Culvin, FIFPRO director of policy and strategic relations for women’s soccer. “So we wanted to kind of bring all of this together, and elevate and listen to the player voice, centralize their experiences alongside experts on the scientific literature, and create something that hadn’t been produced before, with the FIFPRO stamp on it.”

If you’re awake early on Tuesday morning, you can join a Twitter Spaces chat about the guide:

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And I’ll leave you with this. Lynn Williams is a treasure.