March 9 – Abby Wambach, the United States’ best-known women’s player who led the ultimately unsuccessful bid to play next year’s women’s World Cup on natural grass, says FIFA and its national federations should do more to help female players become self-sufficient.
Her country’s all-time leading international scorer, Wambach also wants more women in positions of responsibility at the top table of football’s world governing body.
“The growth of women’s soccer and women’s sports all around the world has been slow,” Wambach told the BBC to co-incide with International women’s day.
“It [support] not only has to come from FIFA, it needs to come from specific federations around the world.”
“Many [female] players, thousands of players are playing professional soccer, but then they have to have another job.
“How do you expect them to be as good as they possibly can on the pitch if they are going to have to go and earn money nine till five doing something completely different? And then in their lunchtime, before or after work they have to go train?
“I hope we can get to a point where women players are being paid properly all around the world so the only thing they have to worry about is playing football and playing football alone.”
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