FIFA announce reforms to protect pregnant footballers

FIFA plans to introduce a series of measures to protect pregnant footballers including mandatory

maternity leave “of at least 14 weeks”, the sport’s world governing body announced on Thursday.

We want to see more women play football but at the same time have a family,” Sarai Bareman, FIFA’s chief

women’s football officer, explained to journalists.

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The body said it would put a series of reforms forward for approval by the FIFA Council next month, making

them immediately applicable across all of its 211 member federations.

The mandatory 14-week maternity leave would see players guaranteed a minimum of two-thirds of their

contracted salary, while FIFA indicated a wish to make it harder for clubs to part company with

pregnant players, saying “no female player should ever suffer a disadvantage as a result of becoming pregnant”.

FIFA’s chief legal and compliance officer.

Under the proposals, if a player is laid off after becoming pregnant, clubs responsible face financial

as well as “sporting” punishments.

Clubs must also reintegrate female players and provide “adequate medical and physical support” after

they have given birth.

In a statement, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the reforms were necessary at a time when

women’s football is growing, insisting the sport needed to “adopt a regulatory framework that is

appropriate and suitable to the needs of the women’s game.”