Fifpro survey casts harsh light on fragility of women’s football foundations | Suzanne Wrack


The game is growing in England and beyond but recent findings show pay, contracts and basic support for those with families are simply not sufficient

More than 90% of female footballers have considered quitting the game. That is the outcome of the most extensive survey of its kind, carried out by world players’ union Fifpro, which interviewed more than 3,000 footballers at the top of the game for its report, Working Conditions in Professional Women’s Football. The fragility of the foundations on which women’s football is being built has been laid bare.

It has been a tumultuous year for the sport. Huge highs – not least the phenomenal support around Euro 2017 and increasing professionalism across the top of European leagues – have been tempered by a cacophony of national team wage disputes while in England, the summer success of the Lionesses has been marred by the Mark Sampson saga and exposure of the FA’s inability to handle crisis in the game.

Related: Brighton at forefront of FA plan to revolutionise English women’s football

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