Olympique Lyonnais (OL) announced on Friday January 14 the pregnancy of French midfielder Amel Majri, who is currently recovering from a serious knee injury.
Amel Majri has just marked – probably unwittingly – the history of Tricolor women’s football. The 28-year-old pregnant player will thus become the first active French footballer to experience maternity.
Olympique Lyonnais congratulates @AmelMajri7 and her husband waiting for a happy event https://t.co/oT6V05f4FQ pic.twitter.com/p5Pbcd7kAo
— OL Feminine (@OLfeminine) January 14, 2022
Six-time European club champion, Amel Majri “will continue to be closely followed by the club’s medical staff to calmly continue her pregnancy and the rehabilitation of her knee,” said OL.
Because the season of the winger with 66 selections for the France team, had been interrupted after a serious knee injury – rupture of the cruciate ligaments – which occurred on October 1, 2021. Her participation in the Euro was also largely compromised.
A growing phenomenon
If Amel Majri is a pioneer in football, there are more and more high-level French sportswomen who have become working mothers. With sporting careers getting longer, a decrease in fertility after 35, waiting for the end of your career to start a family is no longer an obligation for athletes.
Like Laura Glauser (handball), Melina Robert-Michon (athletics) or Auriane Mallo (fencing), Amel Majri also did not hesitate to take a maternity break before returning to competition.
But pregnancy remains a delicate subject in the sports world. The fear of a premature career break, the difficult programming of a pregnancy in a sports calendar, or even the fear of not regaining one’s level, still hold back many athletes towards the experience of motherhood.