France’s shoddy treatment of women so familiar
With the World Cup days away, the French hosts were forced to give up their base to the men, writes Molly Mcelwee
This suggests the comfort of Mbappe and Pogba is more important
The Women’s World Cup is supposed to be the gamechanger, a tournament to usher in new fans in their millions and a showcase for the progress made over the past four years. But alas, with six days to go until kick-off in Paris, that progress seems glaringly lacking, after the host nation were this week slighted by their own federation.
On Wednesday, nine days ahead of their tournament opener against South Korea, the France team were hurried out of their Clairefontaine training base to make way for the men’s team, who play a friendly against Bolivia tomorrow.
This blatant relegation suggests the comfort of Kylian Mbappe and Paul Pogba ahead of a friendly, building up to a Euro 2020 qualifier next week, is more important than continuity for the women ahead of the World Cup – and their own final warm-up friendly last night.
With the most celebrated team in Women’s World Cup history, the United States, in a legal dispute with their federation over gender discrimination, including equal pay, it is no secret that much is still left to be desired in the way of tangible parity.
This episode touches upon an element of the debate that speaks beyond pay. Just look to Germany’s tongue-incheek squad announcement video, in which they highlight being gifted a tea set after winning their first European Championship, sexist trolling from the public and the fact they represent “a nation that doesn’t even know our names”.
It plays into
Ada Hegerberg’s much-publicised World Cup boycott. The
Ballon d’or 2018 recipient and four-time Champions League winner has not played for her national team, Norway, since 2017 over a described “lack of respect” her federation shows the women’s team – despite both senior squads receiving equal pay. “It’s not always about money. It’s about attitude and respect,” Hegerberg, 23, told the BBC last month.
“I think sometimes we need to come away and think ‘Are we going as fast as we should be? Are we doing things right? Is this all talk?’” France’s social media promotion of their senior squads’ “historic” dinner together at Clairefontaine on Wednesday is the “talk” here – men’s coach Didier Deschamps’s quip that there was “no debate” on moving the women out is the crux of the matter.
In contrast, yesterday Phil Neville described the Lionesses sharing St George’s Park with the England senior men and Under-21s last week, training at the same gym and on pitches alongside one another. “Do you know what Gareth [Southgate] and Aidy [Boothroyd] said? It’s more important the women get the best of everything,” Neville said.
It should not feel like the women are being shown a favour by occupying national team facilities, but France have done a good job of making it so. This snub is all too familiar and proves the point being made by the World Cup’s most striking absentee.
The test is whether France will redeem this disrespect, in hosting a tournament that will truly change perceptions – maybe even those of Deschamps.