The Minister of Labor and second vice president of the Government, Yolanda Díaz, announced this Wednesday that the Inspection has sanctioned the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and three clubs (Barça, Espanyol and CD Europa) for not having a equality. In addition, the inspectorate also points to the RFEF for not activating the harassment protocol.
“We send our world champions without an equality plan, without harassment protocols in their workplace, it is very serious,” Díaz stressed in an interview on Radio Nacional in which he recalled what happened in the World Cup final with the former president of the RFEF Luis Rubiales and the non-consensual kiss to the player Jennifer Hermoso. “I want to tell the clubs and the federation that when we talk about equality we talk about fundamental rights and, therefore, they have to comply with the regulations. Harassment is a very serious thing, we cannot continue without action protocols, without equality plans,” Díaz indicated.
For its part, the RFEF claims to have both an equality plan and a harassment protocol. “The plan has existed since January 2022 and the anti-harassment protocol is developed in it,” state federal sources. The same sources assume that, after the recent inspection, some problems were raised, such as that the plan that is registered is not the same as the one published on the federation website. Detail, they explain, to which they do not give much importance.
After the crisis experienced within the Spanish federation due to the non-consensual kiss of the former president Luis Rubiales to the soccer player Jenni Hermoso, the RFEF and the players signed an agreement last October that acted as a boost to the creation of a mixed commission, in which the parties are represented, in addition to the Higher Sports Council, and in which this matter was expressly mentioned: “The parties will ensure compliance with the protocols against abuse and harassment in sports, (… .) for the effective equality of women and men, as well as mandatory equality reports.”
Sources from the Labor Inspection indicate that as a result of that episode, “the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy decided to act urgently through the Labor and Social Security Inspection to review the situation regarding equality of the 16 football clubs. first-class women’s team, as well as the sports corporations (SAD) and the Royal Spanish Football Federation.” The same sources, at the moment, do not specify the amount of the sanctions. Díaz has clarified that “we are talking about small amounts” because the faults are documentary in nature. That is, they are due to the lack of mandatory internal regulations.
As specified in the Inspection, the obligations of these companies regarding equal pay were verified (“that is, verifying the existence of a pay record or whether there is wage discrimination”), actions were carried out regarding sexual harassment (“it is verified “if they comply with the prevention of sexual and gender-based harassment”) and it was investigated if they had equality plans. This last analysis is what has led to the sanctions on the clubs. “It is true that Madrid and Sevilla and others are the ones that comply best, but Barça and others are sanctioned because they do not have an equality plan,” Díaz detailed.
A campaign launched after the non-consensual kiss
Díaz announced this Inspection campaign at the end of August last year, together with the representative of the majority union in women’s football, Futpro. The second vice president explained that the Labor Inspection would launch an information campaign with which it wanted to remind sports clubs of their obligations regarding equality.
In addition to the fact that they must have equality plans, the campaign focused on the fact that pay differences must be justified. “What cannot be is that the differences arise due to the fact of being women. Do they have to earn the same? Probably not, but the differences must be clearly motivated. This is how he picks it up the equal pay regulation that we approved in this ministry (in 2020).” He gave as an example the minimum salary in the women’s League, 16,000 euros per year, and that of the men’s League, 180,000. According to the information provided by the Inspection, the sanctions have no relation to these pay differences. However, Díaz has clarified that this part of the investigation has not yet concluded.
The Futpro union has expressed in a statement its satisfaction with this Inspection work: “As we have always stated from our union, we will work tirelessly to protect all the soccer players and seek a safe and equal environment for them, going to the last necessary steps.” to protect them. It is essential that the most important institutions of our society commit to the values of equality, respect and progress that citizens demand.”
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