AC Milan becomes first European football club with maternity policy for female players

According to the 2017 FIFPRO Global Employment Report, which is a global study on working conditions in women’s football, only 2% of female players interviewed across four continents had children. Additionally, a further 47% of female footballers said that they would leave football to start a family. 

With this new policy, the Italian football club aims to support female players and professionals in the technical staff and create an environment that enables them to make significant life choices. The automatic contract renewal of one year will have the same economic terms for players if their contract is due to expire during the season in which the pregnancy started. The club will also offer 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.  

‘’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,” stated AC Milan’s CEO Giorgio Furlani. 

Earlier this year, West Ham United and the 32-year-old Icelandic footballer Dagný Brynjarsdóttir released a documentary where she opens up about the challenges of pregnancy and motherhood as a professional footballer.