Former Olympique Lyonnais player Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir then won her case with FIFA. The French club paid him his full salary.
“Speak up so everyone knows and it doesn’t happen again.In an open letter published on theplayerstribune.com, Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir, a former Icelandic international and Olympique Lyonnais midfielder between 2020 and 2022, explains that the French club did not pay her salary for several months when she was pregnant.
Among the best midfielders in the world, Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir lands in Lyon in the summer of 2020, after four years at Wolfsburg, the best German women’s football club. “When I turned pro, I literally said to my agent: I want to play in Wolfsburg and Lyon. In 2020, I realized my dream, then I got pregnant“Explains the Icelandic player in her forum.
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Tens of thousands of euros in unpaid bills
Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir learns of her pregnancy at the beginning of March and immediately feels joy, but also fear in relation to her job. She officially announced it to the club a few weeks later, before returning to Iceland in July. The midfielder will remain there until the birth of her child in November, before returning to Lyon in January.
Only, for several months, the French club did not pay him his salary, or only in part. The player also reveals that the club have been distant with her and that she hasn’t heard from her during the months in Iceland.
“It’s not just business”
If the club invokes French law not to pay Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir for several months, the player, now 32, seizes FIFA. She won her case last May and Olympique Lyonnais paid her her full salary. A sum of around 100,000 euros after unpaid bills for several months.
“No, it’s not just business. It’s about my rights as a worker, a woman and a human being. I wanted to tell my story after the treatment I received in Lyon during my pregnancy“Explains the player on her social networks. After two tumultuous years in Lyon, Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir now wears the colors of Juventus Turin since last summer. She has also retired from international duty.
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