The Minister of Labor and second vice president of the Government, Yolanda DÃaz, announced this Wednesday that the Inspection has sanctioned the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and three clubs (Barça, Espanyol and CD Europa ) for not having an equality plan. In addition, the inspectorate also points to the RFEF for not activating the harassment protocol.
“We send our world champions without an equality plan, without harassment protocols in their workplace, it is very serious,” Díaz stressed in an interview on Radio Nacional in which he recalled what happened in the World Cup final with the former president of the RFEF Luis Rubiales and the non-consensual kiss to the player Jennifer Hermoso. “I want to tell the clubs and the federation that when we talk about equality we talk about fundamental rights and, therefore, they have to comply with the regulations. Harassment is a very serious thing, we cannot continue without action protocols, without equality plans,” said Díaz.
For its part, the RFEF claims to have both an equality plan and a harassment protocol. “The plan has existed since January 2022 and the protocol against harassment is developed in it,” state federal sources. The same sources assume that, after the inspection last September, some problems were raised, such as that the plan that is registered is not the same as the one published on the federation website. Detail, they explain, to which they do not give much importance. Said plan, the RFEF points out in a statement, has “a validity of four years, 11 areas of development and 26 specific measures that are being carried out in the institution that directs football in Spain.” €. Furthermore, adds the RFEF, which considers that “all legal requirements in this matter are currently met”, after the Labor inspection it presented allegations to the conclusions, relating to the registration of the equality plan: it questioned, among other things, whether its registration corresponded to the regional or state administration.
After the crisis experienced within the Spanish federation due to the non-consensual kiss of the former president Luis Rubiales to the soccer player Jenni Hermoso, the RFEF and the players signed an agreement last October that served as an impetus for the creation of a commission mixed, in which the parties are represented, in addition to the Higher Sports Council, and in which express mention was made of this matter: “The parties will ensure compliance with the protocols against abuse and harassment in sport, (…) for effective equality between women and men, as well as mandatory equality reports. It was also then that the Equality Commission was created, “which is working intensely to guarantee the advancement and compliance of these policies through specific projects that seek not only cyclical, but also structural changes.” .
Sources from the Labor Inspection indicate that as a result of that episode, “the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy decided to act urgently through the Labor and Social Security Inspection to review the situation regarding equal opportunities.” the 16 first-class women's football clubs, as well as the public limited sports companies (SAD) and the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The same sources, at the moment, do not specify the amount of the sanctions. Díaz has clarified that “we are talking about small amounts” because the errors are of a documentary nature. That is, they are due to the lack of mandatory internal regulations.
Alluded to, RCD Espanyol explains that it has an equality plan since 2023, “pending administrative processing in the coming weeks at the REGCON (Registration and Deposit of Collective Agreements and Equality Plans)”. At the end of September 2023, they add, “the club had a work inspection that confirmed that we were in the phase of validating the documentation. The fine (already paid) was very low for that reason. We hope to resolve the process in a few weeks. The joint negotiating commission of ETS workers began the preparation of the Equality Plan in April 22 and now there is a monitoring commission.
As specified in the Inspection, the obligations of these companies regarding equal pay were verified (“that is, verifying the existence of a pay record or whether there is wage discriminationâ€), actions were carried out regarding sexual harassment (†“It is verified whether they comply with the prevention of sexual and gender-based harassment” and it was investigated whether they had equality plans. This last analysis is what has led to the sanctions on the clubs. “It is true that Madrid and Sevilla and others are the ones that comply best, but Barça and others are sanctioned because they do not have an equality plan,” Díaz detailed.
A campaign launched after the non-consensual kiss
Díaz announced this Inspection campaign at the end of August last year, together with the representative of the majority union in women's football, Futpro. The second vice president explained that the Labor Inspection would launch an information campaign with which it wanted to remind sports clubs of their obligations regarding equality.
In addition to the fact that they must have equality plans, the campaign focused on the fact that pay differences must be justified. “What cannot be is that the differences arise due to the fact of being women. Do they have to earn the same? Probably not, but the differences must be clearly motivated. This is reflected in the equal pay regulation that we approved in this ministry (in 2020).” He gave as an example the minimum salary in the women's League, 16,000 euros per year, and that of the men's League, 180,000. According to the information provided by the Inspection, the sanctions have no relation to these pay differences. However, Díaz has clarified that this part of the investigation has not yet concluded.
The Futpro union has expressed in a statement its satisfaction with this Inspection work: “As we have always stated from our union, we will work tirelessly to protect all soccer players and seek a safe and equal environment for them, reaching the last moments. necessary to protect them. It is essential that the most important institutions of our society commit to the values of equality, respect and progress that citizens demand.
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