European footballer says $137K pregnancy salary compensation deal is ‘a wake-up call’

Iceland women’s football team captain Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir says her award of $137,000 for unpaid salary during her pregnancy is a “wakeup call’’ for clubs.

French club Lyon have been ordered to pay the 32-year-old €82,094.82 ($NZ137,467.78) – plus 5% interest per year – from September 2022 until the debt is cleared.

Fifa have given Lyon 45 days to pay out Gunnarsdottir or face a transfer ban.

Gunnarsdottir – who now plays in Italy for Juventus – became pregnant in 2021 while with Lyon and agreed with the club that she would return to Iceland in the leadup to son Ragnar’s birth after being advised by doctors to stop playing.

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A Fifa policy, introduced in January 2021, declared: “A female player is entitled to maternity leave, defined as a minimum period of 14 weeks’ paid absence – with at least eight weeks after birth – during the term of the contract, paid at the equivalent of two thirds of her contracted salary.”

Gunnarsdottir – a two-time European Champions League winner with Lyon – reportedly sought help from the French players union, and the global players union Fifpro after believing she was not paid the full amount owed to her.

Fifpro issued a statement, congratulating Gunnarsdottir “on her successful claim against Lyon over the club’s failure to pay her full salary during pregnancy.

“We are pleased to have assisted her in achieving the first ruling of its kind since Fifa’s maternity regulations came into force in January 2021.

“It is extremely important for women footballers and the women’s game that these mandatory maternity regulations are both implemented and enforced at national level.”

Gunnarsdottir _ Iceland’s most capped women’s footballer with 144 appearances since 2007 – wrote on her official Twitter account that “this story is bigger than me!”’.

“It’s a wakeup call for all clubs and it’s a message to all players that if they get pregnant or want to get pregnant during their career, they have their rights and guarantees!”.

She said it was “not just business. This is about my rights as a worker, as a woman and as a human being.’’

Gunnarsdottir, a two-time Iceland Sportsperson of the Year, is the partner of professional footballer Árni Vilhjálmsson, who won one cap for the Iceland national men’s team in 2017.

She is one of European footballer’s most decorated players, having won four league and cup titles in Sweden with FC Rosengard and four league and cup crowns in Germany with Vfl Wolsburg before joining Lyon in 2022 where she won two Champions League titles and the French Cup.