Spain's football federation has taken a major step towards improving maternity support for female athletes after agreeing a landmark fertility programme that will allow players to freeze their eggs and access fertility treatment.


The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has reached an agreement with Madrid-based Tambre clinic that will run until 2029, giving Spain's players greater freedom to;


balance their football careers with their plans for motherhood


The agreement covers

  1. all national-team players,
  2. including the futsal teams,
  3. as well as referees,
  4. assistants working in the Primera Division and
  5. other federation employees.


The move is part of a wider push by the RFEF to improve work-life balance and maternity protection within Spanish football.



‘A Huge Step Forward’ - Putellas Endorses

The agreement followed a direct request from the players after discussions involving the national team's captains, including London City Lionesses midfielder and two-time Ballon d'Or winner, Alexia Putellas.


Putellas previously spoke about the difficulty female footballers face when trying to combine elite-level football with their desire to become mothers.


"As a group of captains, we had a concern (because experiencing a World Cup is vital for a player) regarding the difficulty of reconciling that with the desire to become a mother," Putellas told Spanish outlet El País this month.
"It's a desire I didn't originally have but developed some time ago."
"Thanks to the incredible work done by the federation, an agreement has been reached with a clinic allowing us to freeze our eggs while we are still active players, for as long as we wish.


She added:


"For me, this is a huge step forward; the federation understands that you are serving your country in a way that runs counter to your biological clock; that you can't simply pause your career to become a mother because you need your body to do your job."


Putellas highlighted one of the major challenges facing professional female athletes:


'the physical demands and limited career window of elite sport can clash with the biological timeline for having children.'



LIVE ON AIR

88.9 FM

PEOPLES ARENA with Breezy

VIEW SCHEDULE