August 5 – AC Milan is to guarantee automatic contract renewals for female players in the event of pregnancy during the final season of their contracts, the first club in Europe to do so.
The maternity policy for its female players and staff was created in view of a 2017 FIFPRO global study on working conditions in women’s football that found only 2% of female players interviewed across four continents had children, and 47% said they would leave football to start a family.
Giorgio Furlani, CEO of AC Milan, stated: “We want this new step to be a further motivation for growth and development for the entire Club, becoming a model to follow, at a national and international level, ensuring that the world of football increasingly becomes an environment where everyone can feel free to make important personal decisions.”
Any automatic contract extension will be on the same terms as the previous contract. The club said it is also committing to assistance with childcare during sports activities and support for flights, accommodation, and other travel expenses for the children of the player who carried the pregnancy or is the sole guardian, plus one companion.
The new policy is in addition to FIFA guidelines and statutory protections related to pregnancy, mandatory remuneration, and return to activity. AC Milan said it also provides its players with professionals from the psycho-pedagogical, physiotherapy, and nutritional areas and reserves the right to involve external experts as needed.
Elisabet Spina, Head of Women Football at AC Milan, added: “The Club has always shown great attention to the well-being of its female players and staff members, both professionally and personally. For example, we were the first Italian Club to contribute social security benefits to our players, well before the introduction of professionalism. We further demonstrated it through the #WeAllAreFootball manifesto to mitigate gender conflict, which led to the definition of principles, initiatives, and concrete interventions on the Club’s infrastructure.”
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