The “pregnancy clause” in the Hämeenlinna volleyball club’s player contracts does not exist today, says Vilma Kesänen, a board member of Joukkueurheilijat ry.
16:26•Updated 16:39
According to Hämeenlinna Volleyball Club’s player contract, the club’s financial obligations towards the player expire if the player becomes pregnant in the middle of the contract period. reported on the matter on Wednesday.
A similar contract is for the former top volleyball player To Saara Esko42, familiar from European fields.
Esko, who won his first SC medals in Orivesi Ponnistus, moved to Germany for the 2001-2002 season at the age of 21 and later played professionally in the Belgian and Italian leagues as well. He ended his handsome active career in 2010.
– Yes, I have had such articles in Germany and Italy. At the time, I didn’t think of it as a difficult matter at all, because it wasn’t topical for me at all. I thought it was part of professional sports. But if I were to sign a contract at an older age and had dreams of having a family, maybe then it would be a position I would think about, Esko said.
In Finland, he does not remember coming across a similar contract clause.
– I was so young when I went abroad, and I haven’t played in Finland since.
A similar contract clause also became public when top soccer player Sara Björk Gunnarsdottir won a legal battle against her former club Lyon.
Lyon had to pay Gunnarsdottir 82,000 euros in wages that the employer had withheld from the player due to her pregnancy.
Working life rules for sports
Volleyball player Ronja Heikkiniemi told about Hämeenlinna Volleyball Club’s 2018 contract offer. There was a condition in the contract that the player must not get pregnant during the season. Heikkiniemi did not agree to the condition.
Basketball, volleyball, floorball and baseball player’s association member of the board of Joukkueurheilijat ry, basketball player Vilma Kesänen has not come across any pregnancy rules in their player contracts.
– Of course, this is only from my point of view. I can’t give a general comment about what kind of contracts there are in the wider sport. They are always agreed on a case-by-case basis.
Kesänen doesn’t remember that there was any talk about pregnancy clauses with the players. On the other hand, contracts have not been discussed with colleagues very precisely.
The subject has been discussed before in Finnish football. For example, six years ago, a basketball player Taru Tuukkanen said in ‘s story that she hid her pregnancy until the last few meters.
According to Kesänen, the clause controlling pregnancy in the player’s contract does not exist today. Ways should be found in which personal life is taken into account in sports, like the rest of working life.
– It is natural that a family comes at some point. You should be able to notice it from the sports side as well.
– If there are more such (agreements), it is of course important to discuss and raise the issue. Cooperation between clubs, players, sports federations and players’ associations must be made to work if such a thing is to be changed.
According to Saara Esko, pregnancy cannot be denied to anyone.
– On the other hand, I also understand the club’s point of view. However, they need to get a counter-level player to replace them. Of course, everyone has the right to motherhood. Unfortunately, pregnancy cannot always be planned. That on that day I will get pregnant. A bit of a double-barreled thing.
Esko herself got pregnant in her last professional season when she played for Carpi in the Italian A2 series.
– It was planned so that I could play until the end of the season and was still with the women’s national team in the spring qualifiers. If the pregnancy had happened in the middle of the season, the club would have been disappointed, and I wouldn’t have dared to ask for compensation, because somehow it is always tied to that season.
Saara Esko reflects that the motherhood of a top athlete is challenging and a big question mark in any sport.
He mentions a beach volleyball player as an example Taru Lahti-Liukkonen, who had a child in 2021. Lahti-Liukkonen was not on the list of recipients of the Ministry of Education and Culture’s sports grant in 2022. This year, Lahti-Liukkonen received a subsidy.
– He was left completely blank. I don’t think that’s acceptable. Some solution or security for professional sports should be developed, Esko said.