Barcelona’s own goal as women sent to the back
Spanish football club puts two teams on the same flight, but men travel first class, women go economy
BARCELONA FC were yesterday forced to issue an explanation after it emerged that female players had been left to fly in economy while the men’s team enjoyed first class service during its ongoing mixed sex tour.
The US tour has been heavily promoted as the first time the men’s and women’s sides are travelling together.
And when the two teams boarded their Iberia Airlines charter flight to Portland on Tuesday, their four captains were initially pictured smiling side by side in first class.
However, eagle-eyed supporters quickly spotted that in later images posted on social media, the female players were clearly in economy seats while the men reclined up front.
A potential embarrassment to a club that has made much of its commitment to women’s sport, the affair also echoes Phil Neville’s complaints to the FA after the England women’s team, which he coaches, was forced to fly economy on a US tour. The men’s team always flies in first or business class.
Amid a social media outcry, Josep
‘When the club hired the charter flight, it was not expected that the women’s team would travel. There were no more seats available’
Vives, Barcelona FC’S spokesman, said it regretted the controversy around the issue but insisted it was not of the club’s own making.
“We regret that there has been a controversy because of a simple issue: When the club hired the charter flight, it was not expected that the women’s team would travel,” Mr Vives said.
“There were no more seats available. [The women’s players] travelled in comfortable places, as they said themselves. Now in the internal flights, everyone will travel in first class.”
Alexia Putellas, a striker for the women’s team, told Mundo Deportivo that the decision to add the female side had come after travel arrangements had already been made.
“The club had made an effort to organise everything at practically the last minute,” Putellas said.
But Barcawomen, a popular fan account on Twitter, questioned why the first class seating could not have been shared between the most senior players on each side. It said that many of the male players were from the B-team – with top players resting following the World Cup – while the women’s side was fielding its best talent.
“I will always advocate that a senior professional player ... has more seniority within a club than a newly broughtin B team player,” Barcawomen explained in one tweet.
Writing in the Sport, Carme Barceló said she believed the controversy was “disproportionate”.
However, she criticised the club’s decision to release a misleading photo of the captains supposedly travelling in the same class, saying it instead should have “admitted its slip”.
The two teams trained together at facilities in Portland before they were due to move on to Los Angeles today.
The men’s side is playing in the International Champions Cup and will face Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow.
The women’s team are playing friendlies against teams from the US Women’s Premier Soccer League.