Malabia Fears Cancellation Of La Liga Iberdrola Will Cost Clubs €1 Million

After last month’s decision to end the women’s soccer league seasons in the Netherlands and France, the head of Women’s Football in La Liga yesterday spelled out the economic consequences of doing the same in Spain.

Speaking on a Soccerex webinar discussing “The Impact of Covid-19 on Women’s Football”, Pedro Malabia, Director of Women’s Football for La Liga, explained why cancelling the season is not a decision anyone will make lightly. “Women’s football, at least in Spain has grown so much, that it is no longer a competition you can just close and that’s it”. With 21 of the season’s 30 matches played, Barcelona stand nine points clear of defending champions Atlético and looked on course for their first league title in five seasons.

“This season has been the first time ever in history that we have sold our TV rights” said Malabia. “This is because the broadcasters believed that it is worth investing in. Our clubs, if the season finished as it is, we would lose in TV rights alone nearly €600,000, plus all the commercial, plus other incomes. Everything together it’s more than €1 million so there’s a big economic impact on this. This can impact the contracts of the players, this can impact the stability of the clubs”.

In order to protect the economy, the Spanish government will cover 70% of wages for employees unable to work due to the pandemic. In one of the countries worst affected by the virus, Malabia claims this scheme may be insufficient to protect the women’s game in the longer term. “This is a crisis, we have been hit hard. The government cannot help everyone. We are not more important than a restaurant or than a hotel. We have a mechanism that has been used by everyone. This can help to stabilize the situation for the next month but of course, I think global football will change”.

After striking last November, the top-flight women’s teams in Spain signed their first collective labor agreement in mid-February guaranteeing €16,000 a year for players on full-time contracts and improving conditions on 40% of the league’s contracts. “Just after increasing all the salaries, one month after, the crisis came” admitted Malabia. “Of course, TV cannot pay all of the contract because no more matches are being broadcast”.

With over two-thirds of the current campaign played, Malabia is keen for the season to be finished but accepts this may not be possible as the industry adapts to new health requirements. “There’s only eight matchdays to be played, this could be finished in one month. Of course, it will depend on the evolution of the pandemic. We have big clubs linked to men’s professional football that could really follow those requirements but we also have smaller clubs that don’t have those resources or they are playing, for example, at facilities that are run by the local government. They might have problems”.

“It might be a possibility of course to postpone the competition if the health requirements are too high. First of all we need to analyse this. Let’s talk and take this decision all together and for the good of women’s football. If it’s, from a legal point of view, not a professional competition, from a reality point of view it’s becoming a professional competition”.

Last season, women’s soccer in Spain drew headlines around the world with some staggering attendances culminating in a new world record of 60,739 when Atlético hosted Barcelona in March 2019. Malabia explained how La Liga has surged ahead of other leagues in recent years. “The mentality ten years ago was there is something called women’s football but that’s it. We had big brands – Barcelona, Valencia, Atlético Madrid – big clubs investing in women’s football but the environment was not the right one. This was one of the reasons for La Liga to jump into women’s football because those clubs were asking La Liga ‘hey we are investing so much in these projects and getting nothing out’. There was no commercial strategy, there was no awareness”.

Implementing a key strategy he learned from studying a club in the National Women’s Soccer League, Malabia admitted that “Portland has been the role model for me. One of the things that I’m trying to show my clubs is the importance of understanding is that the club has two first-teams. That is something really in the DNA of Portland Thorns. Women’s football has turned into such a valuable asset for the club. It’s so stupid not to see the power of women’s football for you organisation”.

“After this pandemic, this strategy is key, if not we will fall back five or ten years, this “two first-teams” mentality is key for the future of women’s football”.