Beatriz Álvarez (Oviedo, 41 years old) faces her third season as president of the Liga F, a professional competition – the clubs are the ones who exploit it and manage the income – that in its first two years of life had to deal with a strike by footballers who asked for improvements in the agreement, with another by referees who also asked for advances in their working conditions and with a Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) that, under the mandate of Luis Rubiales, dedicated itself to confronting the employers. With Rubiales out and the relationship with the body that governs Spanish football normalized, Álvarez hopes that the tournament advances at another pace. For the moment, the hegemony of Barça, champion in the last five years with only two defeats since then, threatens to weigh down a League without competition for the title. Just a few days ago, the captain of the Blaugrana, Alexia Putellas, complained in Dallas that the employers could do much more to promote the competition.
Ask. Isn’t it difficult to sell a product where there is so much difference between Barcelona and the rest of the teams?
Answer. I don’t know of any league where that doesn’t happen. I don’t think that’s a handicap for selling a league. The attractiveness of the League can come from several factors. Liga F is competitive, especially in the relegation spots, and it has also been seen for the Champions League spots that we have played everything until the last matchday. Barcelona has swept the title in recent years. It’s a decade of advantage, of work and investment that beats the rest of the clubs. We have to work to reduce this situation, but I don’t think that this is an inconvenience for there to be partners and sponsors We have the best players, a club that is paving the way, Barcelona, Champions League winner and one of the best in the world, and we have a Real Madrid that continues to grow and many others that are doing things very well.
P. But in the last league season, Barça did not lose a single match, they averaged 4.5 goals per game and only conceded 10 goals in the whole season. Will any team compete with Barcelona for the league title this season?
R. I hope, I hope we can all see it. Barcelona and Real Madrid have the best footballers in the world. And there are other clubs that have been investing for many years and being leaders in women’s football: Atlético, Levante… Let’s hope that it will be a competitive league and that Madrid and the leading clubs will be closer to Barcelona.
P. What do you expect in the third season of the F League?
R. We hope to continue growing, to continue gaining in viewers, audiences, sponsors… that is, to continue growing hand in hand with the clubs and the players, with all those who make this essential.
P. Aitana Bonmatí said in an interview a few months ago in EL PAÍS that the League was stagnant and Alexia Putellas said a few days ago that much more could be done to boost it. Why do some players have that feeling?
R. The vision that a Barcelona player may have is very different from the other visions. I visited the changing rooms and the vision of the players from other clubs is completely different because they have other needs. I don’t think we can talk about stagnation, far from it. It is clear that in two years we have achieved very important things. We are at a time where there is a social impact of women’s football where we can consider ourselves privileged. From there, regarding Alexia’s words, I share them with her. I think that much more can be done, that we can all do much more. I hope that institutional stability now allows us to grow at a faster pace.
P. Are the complaints coming mainly from Barcelona or also from players from other teams?
R. The majority of the players feel that very important steps are being taken, but that does not make us complacent. We have to continue growing, improve attendance at the stadiums, which grew by 13% compared to the previous season, but it is still a figure far below what we want. We have to be critical, but also optimistic and value the steps taken. I do not agree that it is stagnant. We are improving audiences and we are improving the number of women’s football licenses in Spain, which is very significant, making us the second sport with the most licenses behind basketball. We are also improving in the generation of income, which is in favour of the distribution of money to the clubs and transcends to the players.
P. I was speaking to a coach who complained that there are still two artificial turf pitches in the League. When will this situation be resolved?
R. When the professional league was created, it was agreed that the first three seasons had to be one of adaptation because there were many clubs that were still playing on synthetic grass, municipal fields with territorial and political complications. Many of the clubs have already been looking for solutions and today there are only two that are playing on synthetic grass fields, which are Levante Badalona and Costa Adeje Tenerife. Both are in the process of finding the definitive solution so that throughout this season, or already the next one in a mandatory manner, we are all playing on natural grass. These are necessary steps for an improvement of the audiovisual product, which is what makes the audiences grow, improve the sponsors and let the competition grow.
P. The English and American leagues have their schedules set before they start, and fans can plan trips further in advance. Why can’t the Spanish league?
R. In Spain, there is a different situation, and 13 of our clubs are clubs that compete in the Men’s Professional Football League. There are many other things to coordinate, and one of them is the facilities. We are conditioned by the short time we have been a professional league and by the men’s sections to coordinate. One of the objectives is to promote the opening of more and more stadiums. Last season there were 30 stadium openings, and one of them was Ipurúa, which opens every weekend. This year Riazor is added with Dépor, which will open the stadium whenever possible. These are conditions that do not exist in other leagues, I don’t know, but in ours it is as it is, and what we are going to try to do is to do it as soon as possible.
P. Real Madrid finished second this season and last, but the law of silence reigns within the club. They don’t hold press conferences and their visibility in the media is affected. Have there been talks to resolve the situation?
R. We speak with them, but the political or legal position of each club is what it is. We hope that Real Madrid becomes more and more involved in this sale of the product as a whole because for us it is very important for growth.
P. The League is still without a name sponsor since Finetwork left. Will there be an agreement with any sponsor? sponsor?
R. That’s what we want. We are negotiating with five or six possible sponsorsand we hope we can close it as soon as possible. We want to give it the value that we understand the League has, and not give away the product in a hurry.
P. Players such as Mariona Caldentey, Mayra Ramírez and Paula Tomás have gone to England, and Ana Tejada to the United States because they are financially stronger leagues. Is there a brain drain as some players and coaches have said?
R. It is part of the free market for female players. There are leagues, not just the F League, that are growing and generating interest. Just as players have left, other very important ones have come, and in this 23/24 season there have been players from 50 different countries. The raw material we have here means that other powerful leagues take notice of our players and that there are some who may be interested in leaving. It is important and good for them too, that has happened in men’s football, it happens every year, some leave and others come, and it has never been questioned. It must be understood as a natural process.
P. Has the relationship with the Federation improved since Rubiales stopped being its president?
R. Yes, there was no relationship before. It was a bit of a torture in the sense that the Federation did not exist, we had no interlocutor. There has been a change in that sense and we have been able to sit down with the new managers. In fact, this is symbolized in the coordination agreement (signed in July), which gives us a legal framework for working.
Some of us were not surprised by Rubiales’ behavior, it was that of a troglodyte”
P. When Rubiales kissed Jenni Hermoso and touched his genitals in Sydney during the World Cup final, you said that the character that many knew in private had been seen publicly. You are a woman, you became a mother a few years ago and you are the president of the F League, what was your relationship with him like?
R. Bad or non-existent, it depends on the moment. In many cases it was non-existent, and in many others it was bad, trying to put obstacles in the way of every step we took. He never wanted there to be a professional league in women’s football. In fact, he refused in his unfavourable report when the High Council of Sports made the proposal. What was seen after the World Cup and everything that happened afterwards, those of us who were closest were not at all surprised by this compartmentalisation that seems like that of a troglodyte.
P. And a prediction: will there be a surprise for this season’s La Liga champions?
R. I would have a hard time saying yes. Given the history of the league, Barcelona is emerging as the favourite. But I would like to see a league that is much more competitive, and that is what we are working towards, not only for economic sustainability, but also for sporting sustainability and to make this competition more attractive.
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