Wednesday, November 03, 2021
Schult complains about a lack of respect
“Only one toilet for 18 players”
Germany, the showcase nation for women’s football? That was once upon a time, other countries now have much more professional structures. Although there are top clubs here, too, emphasizes Almuth Schult, she complains about unreasonable conditions for female colleagues. Sometimes the essentials are lacking.
National goalkeeper Almuth Schult misses recognition and respect for women’s football in Germany. In an interview with Sportradio Deutschland, she complained about the lack of infrastructure and the sometimes unreasonable conditions in the Bundesliga. “Of course it’s also about the money, but on the other hand it’s more about the infrastructure. Every club, Bundesliga or second division, has the infrastructural option to provide the women with a cabin and a decent training ground,” said the 30-year-old.
“I can remember myself training with my own things in the second division.” For trips away you had to bring your own food. “Or in the dressing room: only one toilet for 18 players. But with urinals? Even the infrastructures have only been created for boys,” complained the goalkeeper and demanded: “We have to rethink this.”
In Spain and England there are now professional structures in women’s football – not everywhere in Germany. “We have top clubs in Germany, such as VfL Wolfsburg, where I play, like FC Bayern Munich, where the conditions are there to say: We are professional footballers,” emphasized Schult. “But it’s not like that everywhere. And that’s a problem in Germany because women’s football is not quite as recognized and respected as it might be in other countries.” Not every club in the Bundesliga can call themselves “really professional” today, said Schult.
Even if the structures in England are more professional, the clubs in the male Premier League have invested heavily and have strong women’s teams at the start, not everything is rosy there either. For example, Bayern captain Lina Magull told the later finalists FC Chelsea of an unprofessional changing room in May after the Champions League. “It was a large room and a bar right next to it. Chairs were simply put down and the showers were outside in a container,” Magull told the sports buzzer. “We had warm water, so it wasn’t a problem at all, but considering the way the league is presented to the outside world, that was surprising.”
Schult, the mother of twins, is one of the nine women who launched the “Football Can Do More” initiative. In it, the initiators demand “clear rules in terms of gender equality in German football”. This includes, among other things, a quota for football associations of at least 30 percent women in management positions.