Amanda Gutiérrez, President of Futpro, is the head of the new collective agreement that regulates Spanish women's football and one of the people who ensure that our players can compete in the best conditions. During her visit to Mundo Deportivo, the lawyer celebrates the last steps of giant given but warns that a firmer bet on some clubs is missing.
Amanda, the collective agreement was finally closed, which you described as “a triumph and a step towards equality.” What has been achieved?
It has been a success because we have taken into account many of the needs that the players had and that in the previous agreement had not taken into account. For example, creating a commission in maternity issues that is a living organ in which we are going to learn from home specific case, because each pregnancy is very different, each birth is different and each postpartum is a world for each woman and it is important to know and study what is happening with each of them and to improve the next collective agreements. Obviously the issue of the harassment protocol that we could already demonstrate with the 'Alhama Case' that did not work and corrected it has also been discussed. I cared that the players felt more protected in the event that wanting to activate it. And other milestones that will seem nonsense have been achieved but really for them they are not. For example, boots. We put an article at the proposal of Futpro to give boots to the players who do not have an official sponsor. There were at least 600 euros were spent at least.
“We have put an article in the agreement to give boots to the players who do not have a sponsor”
That is, in the agreement it is fixed that all the players who do not have a sponsor will have free boots
All players who request it will be able to have them. For me, one of the points that limits this collective agreement is the minimum wage. If you are scratching or eliminating expenses such as boots or for example we have created the seniority plus of 800 euros a year, you add and in the end the salary is not so low. The minimum wage is always one of the recurring issues in each agreement.
Amanda Gutiérrez, during the interview with Mundo Deportivo
In the end what has been set as a minimum wage?
For this season it is at 22,500 euros and the one that comes, will be 23,000.
Are you optimistic? Will it grow?
It has been a hard agreement, but after making concessions with the salary of the players, we must say that League F gave its arm to twist and was much more receptive and made the negotiation more fluid. We have already seen that there have been setbacks with the other unions and in fact neither AFE nor UGT have signed the agreement.
Important steps are being taken but what is missing to do?
It would be necessary to improve this minimum wage that should always go ascending and also harden the conditions so that clubs can access the maximum Spanish competition as it should be. Not only is the issue of the pitch and facilities but also that the displacements are correct, aids with the house … there are many possible improvements for this league to be one of the best in the world.
“There are many possible improvements for this league to be one of the best in the world”
You have talked about club work, do you need to take a step forward?
Today I still think that there are clubs that have to hit a radical change in their way of seeing women's football because there are still some who see it as a social help instead of like a business. We are talking about the best league with the best players in the world but it is true that at a competitive level there is still a lot of imbalance and it seems that there are clubs that do not believe it. I really do not know why they have a female section because many times, in the negotiations of the agreement, they have been saying that they suffer a lot because they have no money, but I wonder: how many followers do you have on your social networks, what do you do to promote that you have more fans, how you make the fan can feel the colors of your shield not because of what comes from the masculine but because they have a feeling of deep admiration for these players … Atlético who are working that feeling but you have to have a strategy for your team to grow and you can have income, not simply survive.
“There are still clubs that see women's football as social aid instead of a business”
Are there clubs that do not yet have a strategic plan?
There are many who continue to live up to date with the CSD league or aid, but they will not have a solid and stable project that can give them a return. In the end it is to create it and work accordingly being professionals.
Changing theme, this season there has been a thorny chapter with the incident between Mapi León and Daniela Caracas, how is the matter at the legal level?
We contacted all the parties, which are four, the two players and the two clubs. We offered our help and respect the 'timings' of each. In the end, Daniela decided not to continue and not report and many people asked us why we did not make the complaint ex officio. We are never going to do anything that a player does not want. I do have legitimacy to make a complaint, but the damage that can be caused to that person who does not want you to do it is greater than what can compensate for the procedure. Thus, for us the security of a player is very important but we will never do anything that is not asked to do.
“Daniela Caracas? For us, the security of a player is very important but we will never do anything that is not asked to do”
On the other hand, in the 'Rubiales' case or in the 'Alhama case' yes you were involved
With Jenni we never went out to say anything at the public level although we were criticized, until she authorized us. And with the Alhama players, although we already knew what was happening for a long time, we could not act until a player gave us permission to file a complaint. We are carrying other cases that obviously do not become media or public because what interests us most above all is the welfare and security of the athlete.
Another issue that has been spoken a lot this is that of the level the referees and the decision to include men in the F League, how do you value this measure?
The first thing we do with these issues is to talk to the players. What they transfer us is that at first, when the competition was not professional, they could understand that there were always women to encourage and train them, but now being a professional competition in which their clubs participate in the Champions League and they play worlds and European Euro, they no longer make sense to the subject of quotas. What they need and ask is to first be given the necessary tools so that they can do their job well and then that the best arbitrate. It is as if suddenly they said that there can only be women coaches … I understand that we all want more women in all positions related to male and female sport but I think there are other places where you can apply the quotas, perhaps not professionals, so that the best arrives at the elite.
In the Federation there has been a change of president and a new sports director, Reyes Bellver, whom you know very well because she has worked with Futpro. Is it a declaration of intentions?
The 'Rubiales' case served to see that a change was necessary in the Federation. What happened in the World Cup was very hard for everyone and were days of a lot of work. There is finally a president with a clear commitment to give women's football their place. The signing of Reyes is a statement of intentions because they have put as the highest authority an overprofessional woman and we greatly appreciate that they let her work. The selection will come to Barcelona, something that had never happened before, which is a milestone. And the expectation for the Eurocup with the selection and by the Champions with Barça is growing.
