The FC Barcelona women’s team could not fail. Like he hasn’t done it all last season. A League, a Champions League – the second in its history – and a Super Cup. This Wednesday, the Barça club received the Medal of Honor from the Parliament of Catalonia, and one of its most emblematic players, Alexia Putellas, gave the speech that everyone was waiting for. References about respect, improvement and the path that still remains to be followed. All at a time when the strike over the conditions of the League F collective agreement and the Rubiales case have overshadowed the efforts and achievements of women’s football.
“We are here to stay and help those who will come. These days we have seen it with the serious situation that we are experiencing with the RFEF and the changes that we are requesting so that no woman, both inside and outside of football, will ever again have to experience situations such as lack of respect or abuse,” stated the twice Ballon d’Or. Alexia did not want to forget the records and ceilings demolished these years. 91,553 people in the stands of the Camp Nou – now a mass of ruins – gathered to watch the Champions League quarter-final match against Real Madrid on March 30, 2022. One more year, 91,648 people fill it in a match against Wolfsburg.
“We are passionate about our job: being footballers. Many didn’t even imagine it. They also did not plan to play in a full Camp Nou, nor that we would win what we have won as we have won,” Putellas highlighted in the Parliament of Catalonia. A gala directed by Anna Erra, president of the Catalan Parliament, which was attended by all the first team players, who did not hesitate to dance to the music of The Tyets. The soccer players have received the medal accompanied by the Barça organization chart, such as Joan Laporta, or the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonés. For the first time, a sports team receives the chamber’s highest honor.
A recognition of the work of athletes and club, and their contribution to the growth and professionalization of women’s football and growth, in addition to their fight for equal conditions. “This distinction represents a paradigm shift. 5 or 10 years ago it was unthinkable that the first team, whether male or female, would receive this recognition. Our efforts are becoming a benchmark and that represents a great responsibility,” the captain highlighted. For Alexia there is only one possible path: “We need consensus, courage and leadership on the part of the institutions, and that is why we will not stop here.” She has remembered, however, all the generations that fought for women’s football, those who are still doing so and those who will do so.
“We will join those who have fought before us. We will join the effort we make every day and we will join all the girls and boys who dream of being like us. “We will not fail you,” said Alexia, in an emotional and forceful speech. And also vindictive. All at a time when, despite football successes, players still need to raise their voices.
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