The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has announced an agreement for its players to freeze their eggs and undergo fertility treatment.
Through a partnership with the Tambre clinic in Madrid valid until 2029, Spain‘s World Cup winners will be given more options to pursue motherhood when they feel the time is right.
The RFEF say the agreement covers all national team players, including the futsal team, as well as referees and assistants working in the Primera Division and all other employees at the federation.
It is the latest policy introduced by the RFEF in an attempt to lead the way in work-life balance and maternity protection.
Among other initiatives, measures were brought in recently to allow players to travel with their children during major tournaments, a scheme which was extended to the men’s team during their successful World Cup campaign in North America this past summer.
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“If Spain and its national teams are the best in the world on the pitch, they must also be the best in matters such as work-life balance,” RFEF president Rafael Louzán said.
“This is a new, comprehensive and pioneering benefit that extends to all federation employees. Today is a great day for the entire Spanish football family.”
The agreement comes following a direct request from the players following talks with the national team’s captains, including London City Lionesses midfielder Alexia Putellas.
“As a group of captains, we had a concern — because experiencing a World Cup is vital for a player — regarding the difficulty of reconciling that with the desire to become a mother,” Putellas told Spanish outlet El País this month.
“It’s a desire I didn’t originally have but developed some time ago. Thanks to the incredible work done by the federation, an agreement has been reached with a clinic allowing us to freeze our eggs while we are still active players, for as long as we wish.
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“For me, this is a huge step forward; the federation understands that you are serving your country in a way that runs counter to your biological clock — that you can’t simply pause your career to become a mother because you need your body to do your job.”
The RFEF’s announcement comes on the back of Chelsea becoming the first Women’s Super League (WSL) club to offer similar treatment options to their players.
However, the drive to increase fertility support for sportswomen has not been met with positivity universally.
Spanish triple jumper Ana Peleteiro-Compaoré Brión is among those to have criticised the move.
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“The problem obviously isn’t freezing eggs,” she said on Instagram.
“The problem is: why does the institution these women work for have an interest in financing them to delay their motherhood?
“And here there’s a problem that for me changes absolutely everything. Is this measure intended to make it easier for women to be mothers or is it intended to make it easier for them not to be while they’re playing?”
Spain are the current world champions in both the women’s and men’s games. The women will attempt to defend their crown next summer at the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
