Spanish Football Federation Introduces Groundbreaking Fertility Support for Female Players and Referees

Spain's football federation has unveiled an agreement to support fertility treatment for female players and referees, presenting the measure as another way to give women in elite football greater freedom to decide if and when to become mothers.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced that its agreement with the Tambre clinic would allow sportswomen to access treatments including in vitro fertilisation and egg freezing, in what the federation called a pioneering step for women’s sport in the country.

Spain internationals Olga Carmona and Patri Guijarro attended the announcement and welcomed the deal as an important tool for players managing the demands of professional sport and personal life.

“We are very happy to have reached this agreement, to have one more option to decide how and when to choose to become a mother,” Carmona said.

Guijarro stated that the measure formed part of a broader push to improve work-life balance for female athletes and ensure motherhood does not become a barrier to a career in elite sport.

According to Reyes Bellver Alonso, director of women’s football at the RFEF, the federation will cover the full cost of egg-freezing treatment and provide a range of benefits linked to different treatments for all international players who have been called up at least twice. The deal with Tambre will remain in place until 2029.

Bellver Alonso noted that significant progress has been made in protecting players’ rights, contracts, and pregnancy safeguards, including the elimination of anti-pregnancy clauses.

The RFEF clarified that the agreement is not designed to discourage footballers from having children while active, but rather to offer an additional option so they do not have to rule out motherhood because of their sporting careers.

However, the announcement has also sparked debate among labour and equality organisations in Spain. Olympic bronze medallist and triple jumper Ana Peleteiro described the measure as “deeply sexist” in a social media video, while the CCOO trade union argued that the primary focus should remain on general work-life balance and protecting pregnancy during competition.