MADRID, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Spain's football federation has unveiled an agreement to support fertility treatment for female players and referees, presenting the measure as another way to give women in elite football greater freedom to decide if and when to become mothers.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said on Tuesday its agreement with the Tambre clinic would allow sportswomen to access treatments including in vitro fertilisation and egg freezing,in what the federation called a pioneering step for women's sport in the country.
Spain internationals Olga Carmona and Patri Guijarro attended the announcement and welcomed the deal as an important tool for players managing the demands of professional sport and personal life.
"We are very happy to have reached this agreement, to have one more option to decide how and when to choose to become a mother," Carmona said.
Guijarro said the measure formed part of a broader push to improve work-life balance for female athletes and ensure motherhood does not become a barrier to a career in elite sport.
"Ultimately, it's a very positive agreement because it's true that for all these years we've been fighting to achieve a better work-life balance for mothers," Guijarro said.
"In the case of being able to have a career whilst being a mother, work-life balance measures are now being put in place; we feel we've been listened to. It's important that female athletes feel they don't have to choose between their professional and personal lives."
According to Reyes Bellver Alonso, director of women's football at the RFEF, the federation will cover the full cost of egg-freezing treatment and provide a range of benefits linked to different treatments for all international players who have been called up at least twice. The deal with Tambre will be in place until 2029.
"The debate on motherhood and work-life balance is a vast one, and it is good that these issues are being discussed because it always helps to raise their profile in other areas," Bellver Alonso said.
SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS
She said football had made significant progress in protecting players' rights, contracts and pregnancy safeguards, including eliminating anti-pregnancy clauses.
"If there is one area where work has been done on maternity rights, the protection of women, the protection of contracts and work-life balance in women's sport, it is football," she said.
"I think that we often focus on the criticism and fail to convey how beneficial and pioneering these developments are, and the struggles the players have also gone through."
The RFEF said the agreement was not designed to discourage footballers from having children while they are active, but to offer another option so they do not have to rule out motherhood because of their sporting career.
It said the initiative complements existing work-life balance measures, including support that allows players who have become mothers to have their children close by during away trips, training camps and tournaments.
The announcement has also prompted debate among labour and equality organisations in Spain, with some warning that fertility support should not replace stronger workplace protections for mothers.
Olympic bronze medallist and triple jumper Ana Peleteiro described the measure as "deeply sexist" in a video posted on social media, while the CCOO trade union said the focus should remain on work-life balance and protecting pregnancy during competition.
(Reporting by Fernando KallasEditing by Toby Davis)
