{"id":23470,"date":"2019-05-10T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/players-seek-change-for-womens-soccer-in-latin-america\/"},"modified":"2019-05-10T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-10T22:00:00","slug":"players-seek-change-for-womens-soccer-in-latin-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/players-seek-change-for-womens-soccer-in-latin-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Players seek change for women\u2019s soccer in Latin America"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.8110072689512\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-365735-621\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/WWCup_Different_Fights_Soccer_05236-26df7-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/WWCup_Different_Fights_Soccer_05236-26df7.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Daniel Jayo \/ AP File | AP | Macarena Sanchez, a soccer player who is taking legal action against her club and the Argentine soccer association for not recognizing her as a professional player, heads a ball before a mixed soccer match as part of the\" i play for event in buenos class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"9\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/WWCup_Different_Fights_Soccer_05236-26df7.jpg\" alt=\"Macarena Sanchez, a soccer player who is taking legal action against her club and the Argentine soccer association for not recognizing her as a professional player, heads a ball before a mixed soccer match as part of the \" i play for event in buenos><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>Macarena Sanchez, a soccer player who is taking legal action against her club and the Argentine soccer association for not recognizing her as a professional player, heads a ball before a mixed soccer match as part of the &#8220;I play for equality&#8221; event in Buenos Aires, Argentina.<\/strong><br \/>Daniel Jayo \/ AP File | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/WWCup_Different_Fights_Soccer_05236-26df7-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/WWCup_Different_Fights_Soccer_05236-26df7-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Chris Szagola \/ AP File Photo | FR170982 AP | Colombia's Isabella Echeverri (5) battles for the ball against United States' Crystal Dunn (16) during the first half of an international friendly soccer match in Chester, Pennsylvania in April 2016. Players in Latin America face obvious economic and cultural challenges when it comes to soccer and sports overall. Emboldened by the actions of players in the United States, Australia and other countries, Echeverri and Melissa Ortiz started a high-profile social media campaign this year to bring to light to some of the issues faced by teammates on the Colombian women\u2019s national team.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"9\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/WWCup_Different_Fights_Soccer_05236-26df7-1.jpg\" alt=\"Colombia's Isabella Echeverri (5) battles for the ball against United States' Crystal Dunn (16) during the first half of an international friendly soccer match in Chester, Pennsylvania in April 2016. Players in Latin America face obvious economic and cultural challenges when it comes to soccer and sports overall. Emboldened by the actions of players in the United States, Australia and other countries, Echeverri and Melissa Ortiz started a high-profile social media campaign this year to bring to light to some of the issues faced by teammates on the Colombian women\u2019s national team.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>Colombia&#8217;s Isabella Echeverri (5) battles for the ball against United States&#8217; Crystal Dunn (16) during the first half of an international friendly soccer match in Chester, Pennsylvania in April 2016. Players in Latin America face obvious economic and cultural challenges when it comes to soccer and sports overall. Emboldened by the actions of players in the United States, Australia and other countries, Echeverri and Melissa Ortiz started a high-profile social media campaign this year to bring to light to some of the issues faced by teammates on the Colombian women\u2019s national team.<\/strong><br \/>Chris Szagola \/ AP File Photo | FR170982 AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/players-seek-change-for-womens-soccer-in-latin-america\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/players-seek-change-for-womens-soccer-in-latin-america\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For women in many parts of the world, a level playing field in soccer can simply mean having a playable practice field.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Players in Latin America face clear political, cultural and even historical challenges when it comes to soccer and sports overall. Their struggle to close gender gaps is entirely different than that faced by a high-profile squad such as the defending world champion U.S. team and its fight for equitable pay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But with the approaching Women\u2019s World Cup putting greater focus on their game, Latin American women are increasingly calling attention to their struggles and are starting to see at least incremental results.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Emboldened in part by the actions of the players fighting for equity in the U.S., Australia and other countries, Isabella Echeverri and Melissa Ortiz started a high-profile social media campaign earlier this year to bring to light some of the issues faced by teammates on the Colombian women\u2019s national team. It gained traction when players from the men\u2019s national team, which went to last year\u2019s World Cup in Russia, declared their support for the effort.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The pair was spurred to action when players stopped getting the $20-a-day payment they had received for practice sessions, and other moves by the federation. Separate allegations of sexual harassment on Colombia\u2019s under-17 team later emerged.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt came to a point when both of us were like, if not us, who, and if not now, when?\u201d Ortiz told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Players scored a victory of sorts with the recent announcement that the women\u2019s professional league in Colombia would continue, despite talk of its demise. Many of the national team players are part of the pro league, which has not yet begun to play. Colombia went to both the Women\u2019s World Cup in 2015 and the Olympics in 2016 but the team did not make the field for the tournament that opens next month in France.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe have different fights,\u201d Camila Garcia, co-founder of the women\u2019s player association in Chile and board member for FifPro, the international player\u2019s union, said about women\u2019s soccer in Latin America. \u201cWhen you see that most of these elite teams have collective-bargaining agreements that we would dream about having, we don\u2019t have any mechanism to negotiate. We can\u2019t be at the table. So we\u2019re trying, for the first step, to raise our voice, to say what we need, and try and figure out how we can develop women\u2019s football.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Argentina recently announced that its women\u2019s league would be granted professional status. Previously, players for the clubs were considered amateurs, something that\u2019s common globally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At least eight players on each of Argentina\u2019s 16 club teams must now have pro contracts. The Argentine soccer federation will kick in $600,000 to help contribute to the salaries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The move comes after Macarena Sanchez took legal action against her former club team and the federation seeking to be recognized as a professional.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Argentina\u2019s national team, which went on strike in 2017 after daily stipends of about $10 were cut off, will play in the World Cup this summer for the first time in 12 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Brenda Elsey, an associate professor at Hofstra University and co-author of the book \u201cFutbolera: A History of Women and Sports in Latin America,\u201d said some of the strides that have been made can be connected to the rise of the women\u2019s rights movements in Latin America.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cTheir situation, it\u2019s better in terms that they\u2019re fairly organized, they\u2019ve got social media audiences that really support them,\u201d Elsey said. \u201cThey have connections to the feminist movement that they haven\u2019t had in the past. A lot of this, I think, you could also chalk it up to the dynamism of the Ni Una Menos, and the feminist movements in Latin America that have changed the idea of what is feminism, and are including a lot more things like women\u2019s sports.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In a friendly match between Puerto Rico and Argentina last August, Puerto Rican players stopped after kickoff, gathered together and pointed to their ears in a gesture suggesting their complaints about funding for the women\u2019s team weren\u2019t being heard. Some players claimed they were never paid for World Cup qualifying matches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Some of the players adopted the hashtag #FromNowOn as video of their protest quickly spread on social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019re right now just asking for the basics,\u201d Puerto Rico midfielder Nicole Rodriguez said. \u201cLike fields to practice on that aren\u2019t waterlogged, and that we\u2019re not the second-choice clubs to have priority. We want friendly games so we can continue to improve our FIFA ranking and be adequately prepared. And camps, like four camps a year. We don\u2019t have any of that. So, yes, it would be really awesome to get paid, but right now our focus is being able to continue our development and have the respect we deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The U.S. women\u2019s national team took its high-profile pursuit for equitable pay to federal court earlier this year, alleging gender discrimination in a lawsuit filed against the U.S. Soccer Federation. The U.S. team is among several national teams, including those for Australia, Norway and Denmark, that have publicly fought for better pay and playing conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But those teams come from federations that are far wealthier and have the political will to change.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">FIFA, soccer\u2019s international governing body, last fall released its ambitious global strategy to grow women\u2019s soccer. Sarai Bareman, FIFA\u2019s chief women\u2019s football officer, said one of the goals is to emphasize the promotion and commercialization of the women\u2019s game, something she hopes will show federations like those in Latin America that supporting women\u2019s soccer is an area of untapped growth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The World Cup, she said, is a great platform to drive that point home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI really believe that a lot of the issues that exist, especially in the more developing countries, if we are able to really commercialize the women\u2019s game at the top end, a lot of those challenges and barriers will start to come away in the more developing countries as well,\u201d she said.\u201d So we\u2019re putting a big focus, particularly this summer in France, around promotion, proactive communication and raising the profile of our players, and really doing as much as we can to get as many eyeballs onto the games.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/players-seek-change-for-womens-soccer-in-latin-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Macarena Sanchez, a soccer player who is taking legal action against her club and the Argentine soccer association for not recognizing her as a professional player, heads a ball before a mixed soccer match as part of the &#8220;I play for equality&#8221; event in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Daniel Jayo \/ AP File | AP Colombia&#8217;s Isabella [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23470","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-10 19:53:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}