Ellis welcomes new FIFA regulations on pregnancy, adoption and menstruation

FIFA’s new pay regulations, which are intended to support female players and coaches during pregnancy, adoption and maternity leave, are a big step for women who struggle to balance children and careers, said former US coach Jill Ellis.

Among the regulations approved unanimously by the FIFA Council earlier this month, the minimum 14-week paid maternity leave for female players has been extended for female coaches, and female players and coaches adopting a child will be entitled to eight weeks of paid leave when the adopted child is younger than two years old.

An athlete or coach who is not the biological mother will be granted a minimum of eight weeks of family leave.

The new rules will also enable women to receive their full salary if they miss training or matches due to menstrual problems, and encourage teams to allow players to have more contact with their families while on international duty.

“(A soccer career) shouldn’t be about being a mom and raising a child, it should include that,” said Ellis, who coached the U.S. women’s national team to World Cup victories in 2015 and 2019. “If I hadn’t done it If I hadn’t had it around me support, I wouldn’t be able to do it and maintain my career.

“These are big steps and big strides that really normalize the lives that we go through as women… that’s what we want to provide now at every level, at club level, at national team level – a chance for professional players to have a chance to be mothers,” Ellis added. who chaired the FIFA Technical Study Group for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Under the new rules, clubs can register players outside the registration period to temporarily replace players absent due to pregnancy, adoption or family leave, while players returning to football for any of these reasons will be able to be registered outside the registration period.

Players will be entitled to full wages in the event of absence due to heavy menstruation.

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“When you play sport for a living, in a professional setting, we must consider that a woman’s menstrual cycle can also impact your ability to perform in your role,” said Sarai Bareman, FIFA director of women’s football.

“It is therefore important that we protect people affected by menstrual cycles in a way that does not jeopardize their employability at the club and ultimately their ability to earn money.”

Member associations will also be encouraged to allow players to stay in touch with their families while on international duty, an important move for mothers, said Bareman, who may be away from her children for up to six weeks while on World Cup duty.

“It can have a big impact on the player’s mentality, but also on the child,” she said. “So encouraging member associations to provide these mothers with the opportunity to have children during a camp or tournament is a really important step that will support not only female athletes, but all female athletes in our sport.”

New updates to the Regulations regarding Player Status and Transfer will come into force on Saturday.