Headed in the right direction

There’s no denying that women’s soccer has gained incredible momentum in the last few years.  It should come as no surprise.  As soon as the right people began to pay closer attention, they realized that the level of talent and drive among female players was as worthy of support as their male counterparts.  

When it comes to equality in the sport, well that’s coming along at a much slower pace.  If women haven’t achieved parity in the regular workplace, in sport it’s going to take a while, although, for instance, I truly don’t understand why it isn’t an automatic no-brainer to pay people the same wage for the same work, regardless of gender.  If anything, employers who have been cashing in on women for longer than anyone can remember should just quietly pay up, in appreciation for being allowed to rip them off for so long; I guess they must have numerous complex reasons for not doing so, that goes way over my head.  

 Women are showing the world that they can put on just as good a show as men, and it’s being proven by the quality of the teams at the world cup in New Zealand.  This quality also demonstrates the many countries are investing in the sport.  Without investment there can’t be development, which is a problem that Canada is having at the moment.  The Canadian women went to the tournament while still trying to negotiate fair salaries with the powers that be.  Government investment was also cut, and it wasn’t just for the women.  Canada Soccer is even murmuring about bankruptcy.  With all this and more on their minds, it’s no wonder the country which won a women’s soccer gold medal in Tokyo, in 2020, bowed out of New Zealand without having caused much impact.  On the other hand, Portugal made a decent showing, for a team that was happy just to be one of the finalists. All this shows that everything, at least from my perspective, is moving in the right direction.  It’s also good to see that women who love the sport have the opportunity to play out their dream beyond the playground.  In a relatively short period of time young females went from merely hoping to be able to make the cut in a male team, to having teams of their own.  It was, though, a long time coming, and now women’s soccer is well on its way to becoming as mainstream as men’s.  Sponsors will also have to look at both equally.  Judging by the stadiums filled with cheering fans, the people are not just warming up to the idea anymore.  Media interest has brought women’s soccer to the entire planet, and people are now seeing that women play a great game too.

The push for equality for women has been a hard-fought battle, one that is still being fought.  In Western society, women’s equality was something to be laughed at as recently as a few decades ago.  In many societies today, women don’t have any rights at all.  Women’s soccer isn’t merely a boost for women’s sports, it has placed capability and equality in the face of everyone.  In action, as a great example for all to see.  There’s no hiding that, and there’s no hiding from it.

Fiquem bem.

Raul Freitas/MS