They criticize the actions of the Ministry of Sports of Mexico for not acting to reduce the salary gap between women and men who play professional soccer

In Mexican soccer, the players receive an average salary of 217 dollars a month according to experts consulted this Sunday by Efe, far from the 36,265 that their male peers earn, a salary gap that Conade, the Mexican sports ministry, has not made actions to reduce.

Efe asked the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports (Conade) in a request for information about the campaigns, advice, accompaniment or any effort made to help soccer players in their fight for better income and the institution of the Government of Mexico replied that He has nothing in his records.

“Conade has a constitutional obligation to respect, promote and guarantee human rights and as the body in charge of conducting sports policy in the country, it must take actions aimed at reducing this wage gap, which is considerable and is a type of violence against women,” Zitally Flores, doctor of law, told Efe.

Flores, an academic at the Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports Sciences at the Juárez University, explained that among the actions that Conade could implement are awareness campaigns on gender perspective and public policies in conjunction with the Mexican Football Federation ( FMF).

“Conade created a Gender Unit in 2019, of which I have not seen actions, but from there awareness programs should be generated in sports federations so that it is an obligation to include the gender perspective in their work,” he commented.

Low salaries in women’s soccer have forced some players to decide to retire, such as Daniela Pulido, who left Chivas de Guadalajara at the age of 20 to study after playing there since the first league tournament in 2017.

Also, the Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) imposed a fine of 3.5 million dollars on the FMF and 15 teams in the Women’s League for promoting and implementing a salary cap for female soccer players in the first two seasons.

In the first campaign, 2017-2018, soccer players over 23 years old could earn a maximum of 97 dollars a month and those under 24. As for the sub’17, they would have no income and only support such as food and transportation.

In 2018-2019, the limit rose to $733,464 per month and in-kind rewards could not exceed $2,444.

COFECE calculated that this reduced the players’ earnings by $1,366 in the first tournament, the 2017 Apertura; in the next, the Clausura 2018, 1,289; in the Opening 2018, 487, and in the Closing 2019, 493.

“The Conade, as the governing body of sport at the national level, is in charge according to the law of advising the federations, and in this case it would be important to issue an opinion, recommendation or observation to the FMF, without getting into its internal life. , so that the minimum conditions are respected,” Patricia Muñoz, a lawyer who was a member of the Sports Appeals and Arbitration Commission, told Efe.

The teacher Regina Moreno, a specialist in public policies in sports, considered that Conade should promote reforms to the General Law of Physical Culture and Sports that mitigate the salary gap not only in soccer but in all sports.

“Conade must be a promoter and regulator to promote sport and watch over athletes. They are competent to give a position, legal support, advice, generate strategies to support soccer players, but the gender perspective is a pending issue in sport, “lamented the specialist. (D)