Sara Bjork Gunnarsdóttir, now a Liverpool player, found out she was pregnant in March 2021 while representing Lyon. French club stopped paying wages to the athlete, FIFA intervened and agreed with Sara, who now tells the story in an open letter.
It was March 2021 when midfielder Sara Bjork Gunnarsdóttir found out she was pregnant with her first child. The moment was supposed to be one of great happiness, but insecurities and fear took over the athlete. And even a feeling of guilt. After all, no other Lyon player, winner of eight Champions Leagues, had announced such a state of grace. Sara thought she was going to let everyone and everything down by being forced to step away from the competition. And, therefore, the announcement of the good news to the team was only made when it was no longer possible to hide it any longer.
When Sara found out that she was expecting her first child, in the first weeks of pregnancy, an important game with PSG was approaching. The day before, the athlete vomited three times. On the day of the game, the coach asked if everything was okay and if the player could come in after the break. The midfielder said no. “It was a load of nerves”, wrote the Icelandic in a letter published, this Tuesday, in “The Players Tribune”, in which she reveals the whole story, which includes salary arrears, unions and FIFA. But it will get there.
Gunnarsdóttir broke the news to the squad, who celebrated with her. The club even made a point of marking the good news with a publication on social networks. Sara wanted to spend her pregnancy in Iceland, close to her family and return to the club after giving birth. Lyon agreed with everything, there was insurance and signed papers. The player calmed down: fear and uncertainties gave way to happiness, she could be close to her family in her home country. Everything went for the best, until it came time to receive the salary. Sara didn’t get a penny of her salary. Only the value of social security fell into the account.
“I felt abandoned”
“To be honest there was a lot of logistics to deal with so I didn’t think about it too much. It was probably a mistake. But I asked the other players to be sure. They got it at the right time,” Sara wrote. The scenario repeated itself in the following months. The athlete even had to get money from savings to pay expenses and also a personal trainer to stay in shape. Accounts were asked of Lyon by the agent, but there were no responses. Until the sports director realized that the athlete would receive what she had to receive, but that from the third month she would no longer be entitled to anything, claiming that was what the French law said.
In shock and disillusionment, the player even considered leaving football – “I felt abandoned” – but knew she was protected by FIFA’s latest laws in defense of motherhood, which were introduced on January 1, 2021. “I just wanted to enjoy of my pregnancy, but instead I felt confused, stressed and betrayed,” she said. The new FIFA laws provide, for example, for a maternity leave of at least 14 weeks, of which at least eight must follow the birth of the baby. As for the salary, two-thirds is guaranteed, in case the national legislation or collective labor agreement does not establish a higher value.
After giving birth, in which she felt like a “super hero”, Sara gathered all her strength to fight for what was hers. She complained to FIFA-the French player’s union and the FIFPro, which brings together players from various unions, entered the field. “”If Sara goes to FIFA with this, she will have no future at Lyon at all”, said the sporting director.
Sarah was not afraid. She packed her bags and, together with her partner and son, returned to Lyon. Upon arriving at the club, the coach, Sonia Bompastor, promised to help her. But things got more complicated: they forbade her to take the baby to outside games, so as not to disturb her colleagues. The athlete said no, the club asked the coach to test at least two games. She heard a negative answer. “They always made me feel like it was negative to have had a baby. I decided to go ahead with the complaint, the sporting director told me it wasn’t personal, just business”, she stressed.
Sara ended up winning. The decision of the process raised by FIFPro was known in May and was favorable to the player: Lyon would have to pay the player all wages that they owed him. The club still tried to see if it was worth going to appeal, but ended up accepting the decision.
Today, Sara Bjork Gunnarsdóttir is a Juventus player and wants to be an example for other athletes, so they don’t have to go through the same thing. “The victory was bigger than me. It serves as a guarantee of financial security for all players who want to have a child during their career. I wanted to make sure that nobody went through what I went through. And I wanted Lyon to know that it’s not OK. This it’s not just business. This is about my rights as a worker, as a woman and a human being. We deserve better”, it can be read.
FIFPro, on the other hand, did not hide its satisfaction for the decision and for having helped the athlete, in what was the first case since the new laws were implemented: “We congratulate Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir for the successful complaint against Olympique Lyonnais for the club not having paid the entire salary during pregnancy”, can be read in a publication on social networks.
