Cyrille de la Morinerie / Photo credit: FRANCK FIFE / AFP
As the Women’s Football World Cup begins this Thursday in Australia and New Zealand, the France team is fine-tuning its preparation before its entry into contention on Sunday against Jamaica (12 p.m.). And for the first time in the history of Les Bleues, a player, in this case Amel Majri, was able to come with her baby.
Mom for a little over a year, Amel Majri could have left her daughter Maryam in the care of her nanny and fly to Australia, more than 16,000 kilometers from France where the Blues are preparing to play the FIFA Women’s World Cup. But the newborn will finally be on the trip to Oceania. The 30-year-old Lyonnaise, who is living her third World Cup, will be accompanied by her baby during the competition during which the federation has covered the plane ticket and hotel costs.
As soon as he arrived at the helm of the French women’s team, coach Hervé Renard had also shown himself to be in favor of the idea of welcoming the players with their baby(ies). “I think it’s essential to give structure to players who have young children. I think it’s difficult for a mother to leave her very young child at home,” he said.
“I think we are making a lot of progress on this theme”
And in Australia, the presence of Amel Majri’s granddaughter brings joy to the France group. Some players like Kenza Dali or Sakina Karchaoui like to spend time with their teammate’s baby. A conclusive and hailed experience on Europe 1 by the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra: “I was touched by the words of Hervé Renard so I believe that, collectively, we are making a lot of progress on this important subject and I don’t rejoice”.
Amel Majri is not the only mother to participate in this World Cup since several players from the American and Jamaican selections have also come to Australia with their baby. The international federation has also changed its rules by introducing maternity leave of 14 weeks.