3 Argentina Women's Soccer National Team Members Quit Over Conditions and Salary

Argentina may be the reigning Men's World Cup champions, and Women's Soccer may be rising in popularity, but the Argentina Women's National Team may lack some support, a scenario unthinkable for their male counterparts.

This comes as three players quit the Argentina Women's National Team on Monday following a dispute with soccer organizers over a lack of pay and conditions. The three players quitting are goalkeeper r Laurina Oliveiros, defender Julieta Cruz, and midfielder Lorena Benítez.

According to ABC News, the three are regular starters for the Argentina Women's National Team. However, they quit ahead of a scheduled friendly against Costa Rica on Friday as they disputed the team's management over their bad conditions and lack of pay.

"We reached a point in which we are tired of the injustices, of not being valued, not being heard and, even worse, being humiliated," Cruz wrote in an Instagram post. "We need improvements for Argentina's women's soccer national team, and I am not only talking about finances. I speak about training, having lunch, breakfast."

"With a broken heart and thousands of dreams disappearing little by little. May the next generations enjoy and be happy running after the football, as we were some time ago," said Goalkeeper Oliveros in her own post about quitting.

So far, the Argentina Football Association (AFA) has not yet commented on these three high-profile exits as the team prepares for several international competitions this year.

Argentina Women's Soccer Team Players Given Inadequate Food, Training, Expenses

The players have repeatedly complained of bad conditions for the team, with other former team members also complaining about it and also leaving because of said bad conditions and poor pay.

Cruz and Benítez have stated that during their Argentina National Team training sessions, they were only given a ham and cheese sandwich and a banana, which is usually deemed inadequate for high-performance athletes. Their male counterparts often have a nutritionist planning their meals.

They are also not getting paid for two games, with the AFA reportedly telling the players that this is because those games will take place at home in Buenos Aires. To make matters worse, in addition to not getting paid, Benitez stated that their family members were being charged 5,000 pesos, or around US$5, just to enter the stadium.

Previous FIFA Women's World Cup Showed That Women's Soccer Falls Short in Paying Its Athletes

Despite women's soccer proving more and more popular as of late, this is not being reflected on how they are treated and how they are getting paid. While countries like the United States are trying to amend this, other countries, including soccer-crazy Argentina, are falling behind.

This is reflected in a survey conducted by players' union FIFPRO during last year's Women's World Cup. The players stated that they lacked mental health support, while one in three said they earned less than US$30,000 a year from soccer.

"The players gave everything they had to put on a brilliant World Cup, but there are still important gaps that need addressing," Sarah Gregorius, the " FIFPRO director of policy and strategic relations for women's football, said in a statement. "We will be seeking to work through these issues with stakeholders and resolve them as soon as possible."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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