Football, we went away with women’s As Roma to understand what has changed with professionalism

From this season, professionalism has entered women’s football. Has it changed anything? We went on the road with the As Roma to understand if football is really different for women from professionals.

Day 1 (approach)

The appointment is at Terminal 1 of the Leonardo da Vinci airport in Rome at 9 in the morning. When we arrive there are already club employees who are shipping the players’ luggage and all the material necessary for a Women’s Champions League.

As Roma fly to Barcelona for the return match, and we with them. The private plane (which just a couple of years ago – amateurishly – would not have been among the transfer options) leaves at 10.30, there is time for a coffee. Once at the gate we meet the team and staff, it’s time to go.

A Champions League away match has a series of appointments to meet, so when we arrive we have just enough time to go to the hotel to leave our luggage, the legendary Camp Nou awaits us where the Roma coach Alessandro Spugna will soon hold the usual pre-match press conference flanked by Vicky Losada, ex-Barça footballer.

Just like for the male colleagues, the protocol provides that at the end of the meeting with the journalists the team takes the field for finishing training. Then all in the hotel for dinner and at 11 pm time limit to go to the room to sleep.

Day 2 (that of the match)

It starts with breakfast (meals are monitored by a nutritionist who travels with the team), then the girls go out for a short muscle toning around the hotel.

Upon returning to the facility, here is an important appointment: the meeting with the match analyst which, using video supports, helps staff and players to get to know their opponents better (Roma were among the few teams to have this professional figure within the staff even before professionalism).

The more we live this experience, the more we understand that thereand there are practically no differences with the men’s team coached by José Mourinho. The time to go to the Camp Nou is approaching, the team gets on the bus, we’ll be playing soon.

In Barcelona it is already the future

The away match with Roma allows us to «see» the future. At the Camp Nou, one of the temples of world football, on the external profile of the maxi-posters there are the faces of some Barcelona stars, male and female, no distinction. Even in the stores we immediately understand what the wind is like: there are several images of the female players and the merchandising is going strong, with many fans buying T-shirts with the names of the most famous players.

The match, played in front of more than 54,000 spectators, will end 5-1 for the hosts, at the moment of another level compared not only to Roma, who have shown that they can get this far, but also to almost all the European ones .

What has changed in Italy with professionalism

With the farewell to amateurism, practically everything has changed, they explain to us from Rome, and the transition has been fundamental for the entire women’s football movement which is now growing exponentially. It must be said, however, that in Rome, even before the advent of professionalism, they had always tried to do their best, employing personnel, structures and materials to achieve important objectives as the results demonstrate. In general, women’s football is now in the spotlight. For example, TVs have arrived. Many league and European cup matches are broadcast live, another big step forward.

Salaries

With professionalism came guaranteed minimum wages, regulated by a collective agreement, insurance and a pension plan. A few examples: a player between the ages of 16 and 19 is entitled to a minimum salary of 11,405 euros net per year, which becomes 16,155 between the ages of 19 and 23. From the 24th, on the other hand, the basic salary is 19,750 euros a year.

Where are we going

There are no doubts, women’s football now has its own precise identity, appreciated and with a rosy future. One thing is sure, those who work there are putting everything they have into making the movement grow, now it’s up to investors to take the right step, with courage, but also with foresight, because what we saw in Barcelona is proof that it can Do.

More stories from Vanity Fair that may interest you:

– Women’s football in Italy: the reasons for the delay compared to the rest of the world

– Ada Hegerberg, striker from the future: «My goals, for the players of tomorrow»