The Mistreatment of the Argentina Women’s National Team

For several years, we have witnessed the remarkable growth of women’s soccer. African players are making a significant impact in the NWSL, and with Brazil set to host the next Women’s World Cup, the sport is clearly becoming more global, creating pathways for development worldwide. However, many female players are still struggling to receive equal pay and play in good conditions. the Argentina women’s squad is the latest suffering in this lack of equality.

Despite all the progress women’s soccer is witnessing, Argentina women’s soccer players have been going through many battles. When we look at the history of the Argentine Football Association’s (AFA) treatment of their female players, it becomes clear that something needs to change.

For years, Argentinian women’s soccer players have suffered from systematic sexism, harassment, and lack of equal pay; the list keeps going on. The latest development was when four players quit Argentina’s women’s soccer team due to poor conditions.

 

What Exactly Happened

During the last camp for the Argentina women’s team, the players were preparing to face Costa Rica in two friendlies. However, four players decided to quit the team over lack of pay and the poor conditions of the camp. Goalkeeper Laurina Oliveros, defenders Julieta Cruz and Eliana Stábile, and midfielder Lorena Benítez were the four players who decided to quit. They are regular starters for the national team which shows that they had to endure these conditions for a long time.

In a post shared by Cruz on her Instagram she stated, “We reached a point in which we are tired of the injustices, of not being valued, not being heard and, even worse, being humiliated. We need improvements for Argentina’s women’s soccer national team, and I am not only talking about finances. I speak about training, having lunch, breakfast.”

The conditions Argentinian women players have to face include not having a proper breakfast. Cruz and Benítez also shared that during their training sessions, the breakfast provided was only a ham and cheese sandwich and a banana.

 

No Pay For Argentina’s Women’s Squad

Cruz and Benítez pointed out that the Argentine Football Association made it clear that they won’t pay them for the two friendlies against Costa Rica. The reason? The two games were in Buenos Aires, and since they were at home, the AFA decided not to pay their players.

To make matters worse, Benítez also added that even her family members had to pay for tickets. The player stated that her family was being charged 5,000 pesos (around $5) for match tickets; a match that the players themselves aren’t being paid for. It didn’t start during this camp, but has been going on for many years. Benítez hinted at their continuous struggle by writing, “And there there are millions of things we have gone through.”

 

The Reaction of the Rest of Argentina Women’s Squad

After the news broke, Estefanía Banini showed support for her former teammates for speaking up. “A matter of time. Thanks for being willing to speak about it,” she shared through her social media. Banini, one of the best players in the history of the Argentina women’s team, is familiar with the conditions and mistreatment happening in Argentina against their female players. Last year, Banini herself decided to stop playing for the national team.

When it comes to players still part of Argentina’s women’s squad, they understood their teammates’ decision. Yet, the players wished that they handled the matter internally. According to The Associated Press, striker Rocío Bueno talked about what happened with reporters after Argentina’s practice session. “We do not share the way (the four players left the squad), we all fight for the growth of women’s soccer. I support everything they ask for, but we had to be together and make a joint decision to show up or not show up.”

 

Will Anything Change?

Yamila Rodríguez and Bueno shared that squad members later met with Argentinian soccer executives to voice their concerns. The question is, will the federation change anything? The four players’ frustration with the mistreatment of Argentina’s women’s squad didn’t appear suddenly. This mistreatment has been there for years, and yet nothing has changed.

Argentina’s women’s soccer only became professional in 2019 after the national team players led a strike. Now, in 2024, players are walking out because nothing has changed in the pay or conditions. On the other hand, the Argentina men’s soccer team doesn’t have to worry about only being provided with a ham and cheese sandwich, their family members having to pay to attend their matches, or not being paid for friendlies. The clear disparity in treatment makes it clear why Cruz would say that the Argentina women’s squad is “humiliated.”

 

Punishing Those Who Speak Up

In the 2019 Women’s World Cup, the women’s team had a medical team that included only two people. In the last Women’s World Cup, the Argentinian medical team increased its numbers to six people. This slight improvement doesn’t make up for the continuous mistreatment.

In 2019, when some of the Argentinian players spoke against the lack of resources provided to them, the response was to punish them. The players critical of the conditions and the training methods, including Banini, were excluded from the national team’s roster for the 2019 Pan American Games. The decision happened when Carlos Borrello was the coach of Argentina’s women’s soccer team. After the decision, the national team didn’t call Banini for almost three years until the coach changed.

 

The Fight To Gain Professional Status

Another similar situation in which the Argentina women’s squad wasn’t paid happened in 2017. During that year, the players went on strike for many reasons, including unpaid stipends, poor travel arrangements for the team, and poor training conditions. At that time, the players were fighting for pay, which was about $8.50 per training session.

The lack of equal pay wasn’t just happening on the national team but also at the club level. In 2019, Macarena Sanchez sued her previous club team, UAI Urquiza, and the AFA because they didn’t recognize her as a professional player. At that time, the team only provided the players with 400 Argentinian pesos per month for travel.

For Sanchez, the inequality in pay and conditions between men and women was clear. “It’s very frustrating. They have better salaries, better conditions and can live by being footballers. We, unfortunately, can’t. We have better results, more championships and we have even played international tournaments but we are seen as inferior just for being women,” Sánchez said to the Guardian when talking about the men’s team at UAI Urquiza.

 

Nothing Really Changed For Argentina’s Women’s Squad

“The clubs and the Argentinian Football Federation do not recognize us as workers and deny us basic rights such as a salary, something that men do receive for playing football, and other basic things and tools that any high performance athlete needs: places to train, shoes, medical coverage and clothing, to name a few,” Sánchez also added.

This interview with The Guardian took place in 2019. We are now in 2024, and Sánchez’s words feel almost identical to the current situation. For how long and how many times will Argentinian female soccer players fight to gain their rights as professional athletes? Even when the AFA gave professional status that year, it only gave it to the top division of women’s football in Argentina.

In 2023, Argentinian players, among many others, hoped that FIFA would give them the $30,000 promised for each player participating in the Women’s World Cup 2023. But even FIFA didn’t keep its promise to provide better pay for women’s players. So, how can female players survive when these federations continue to mistreat players?

 

Sexual Harassment Against Female Argentinian Players

In 2022, several women players in Argentina came forward with evidence proving how a coach named Diego Guacci, hired by the AFA, used his power to sexually harass and bully teenage girls.

The players made a complaint to the FIFA Ethics Committee, who ruled in favor of the coach. “After examining the allegations and evidence against him, the FIFA ethics panel, made up of three men, ruled that although the judges believed the players’ testimony, there was not enough evidence to punish their coach. The ruling meant that Guacci can continue to coach female football players,” as reported by DW.

According to FIFPRO, the players asked the Chief of Investigation from the Investigatory Chamber to file an appeal for them. This is because they don’t have the right to appeal. The Chief of Investigation was the only party then who could appeal the decision, and yet there was no appeal. The Ethics Committee stated that they couldn’t say that the events reported by the five players didn’t happen. However, the committee decided that five witness statements were “insufficient.”

These five women players presented what FIFPRO describes as “cogent and credible evidence” against the coach. Yet, it wasn’t enough for the Committee. If FIFA won’t protect Argentinian women players, then who will? Who will give them their rights if AFA refuses to?

 

Breaking the Cycle of Mistreatment

The four players who left the camp did not leave just because of an issue or two. They left for many reasons over many years. The Argentina women’s team and Argentinian players are mistreated repeatedly. From low or non-existent pay to sexual harassment, the dark side of AFA is frustrating. It proves the long road still ahead for women’s soccer. A change must take place because Argentinian players deserve respectful treatment like any other players.

Women’s soccer is growing in many countries. However, to grow the game as a whole we need to ensure that all countries are moving forward. The talent in the Argentina Women’s Team is wasted because the AFA isn’t meeting players’ needs. As Benítez wrote, “We have been carrying a lot of things throughout all these years of representing our country, many colleagues have left for the same reasons, for feeling sadness and not joy every time it is time to be there.”

Soccer should be about joy and fighting for your dreams in equal conditions. Yet, Argentinian women players are fighting for their rights against a federation that works against them rather than with them. Benítez wrote that she fears that ten years later, her daughter will play soccer only to find that nothing changed. We must put a stop to this cycle of mistreatment.

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