Former USWNT coach Jill Ellis welcomes FIFA’s new maternity rules

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 their careers, said former United States coach Jill Ellis.

The regulations – which were unanimously approved by the FIFA Council earlier this month – provide for an extension of the minimum 14 weeks of paid maternity leave for female players to become coaches, while players and coaches adopting a child will be entitled to eight weeks of paid leave when the adopted regulations allow the child to be less than two years old. years.

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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,” Ellis said.

“If I didn’t have support around me, I wouldn’t be able to do this 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 ensure now at every level, at club level, at national team level, the opportunity for professional female players to get the chance to be a mother.”

The former coach led the USWNT to World Cup victories in 2015 and 2019, and also led FIFA’s Technical Studies Group at the 2023 tournament.

Under the new rules, clubs can onboard 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 can be registered outside the registration period.

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

“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 within 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 contact their families while playing for international teams, an important move for mothers who may be away from their children for up to six weeks while on World Cup duty.

“It can have a big impact on the player’s psyche, but also on the child,” Bareman 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.