AC Milan’s Head of Women’s Football Elisabet Spina has offered insight into their recently-introduced maternity policy that automatically extends contracts of players who fall pregnant in their last season with the club.
In what is a first in women’s football, the Italian club aims to protect their players and female staff should they fall pregnant and require maternity leave that runs beyond the term of their contracts.
After birth, the club also offers transport as well as accommodation for the baby and babysitter when playing away from home, with Spina explaining how crucial this is for them as a club to provide security for their players and staff.
“It is important to prepare for these kinds of situations before anything happens, and make sure that our players are guaranteed jobs even during pregnancy,” Spina told SABC Sport.
"We have a big gap in women’s sports when it comes to supporting players who want to start a family, which is why it was very important for us to implement this policy."
According to a 2017 FIFPro Global Employment Report, only 2% of female footballers had children and 47% said they would have to leave football to start families.
Spina, a former footballer who won the Italian Cup with Raggiana, says they met with their HR team, as well as players from the first team down to the youth structures, before implementing the policy to determine their needs and concerns.
“We met with our Human Resources team and the players to ask them how we can assist them should they want to start families," she explained.
"We also wanted to find out if, once the players had given birth, would they want to travel with the team or privately with the baby sitter and the baby.
"Our players are now more comfortable and say they are happy because they know they have a choice on whether or not to start a family."
Banyana Banyana captain Refiloe Jane spent three years at AC Milan and Spina raved about how amazing the now 32-year-old is on and off the field.
“Refiloe is a very smart player and a great person. She is very professional and what I appreciated about her the most was how grounded she is in her spirituality.
"She has great values and will always deliver on the field, yet she is so spiritual and is a great person all around."
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