Representing Juventus in the Italian Serie A Sara Björk Gunnarsdottir is one of the best female soccer players in the world. Iceland’s former captain and star player has twice been chosen as sportsman of the year in his home country, and he has also won the Champions League twice.
Gunnarsdottir is also two years old Ragnar-son’s mother, belonging to the growing group of mothers playing at the top. For example, in the summer of 2022, a record number of mothers, a total of 13, played in the European Championships.
Iceland’s star player’s return to the playing fields from pregnancy was widely celebrated. He returned to the playing lineup of his then club Olympique Lyonnais, or Lyon, in March, only about four months after his birth.
Lyon’s activities were also praised. The club has been considered an exemplary operator in managing the conditions of the women’s representative team and its players.
However, Gunnarsdottir has now become public about the wrongdoing, which hurts Lyon’s public image. The management of the French club rejected their Icelandic star, threatened him with suspension from the team and withheld more than 82,000 euros in salary from him.
All because Gunnarsdottir got pregnant.
“Oh shit, what are my teammates thinking?”
Sara Björk Gunnarsdottir tells In his article in The Players Tribune (you will be transferred to another service)how the difficulties with Lyon began at the beginning of March in 2021.
After taking the pregnancy test, Gunnarsdottir stated that it was positive. He says that he was happy, but that reality also hit quickly.
– I thought, oh shit, what are my teammates thinking.
He describes that in Europe, the culture has changed in top women’s soccer, when it comes to the players’ motherhood and getting pregnant. He still admits that the matter is still somewhat of a taboo.
Gunnarsdottir was the first to tell the doctor and physiotherapists in Lyon. They monitored his condition and kept the doctor’s decision a secret at first. He continued training with the team for a month.
The pregnancy started to take its toll. Before the top match against PSG, the team’s coaching had asked the Icelander, who was part of the starting line-up, to initially remain on the substitute side in the match, as he had vomited three times in the morning training.
She revealed her pregnancy to the team a week later.
– We sat in the dressing room, all the team members were there. I told you that I had been sick for the last few weeks because I am pregnant. It was funny to see everyone’s reactions, because some were completely shocked, he says.
The truth hit the eyes in Iceland
The Lyon players took it well and were happy for their teammate.
Gunnarsdottir’s player agent Dietmar Ness said the club’s director of sports Vincent Ponsot to have been surprised, but happy about the player’s pregnancy. Gunnarsdottir agreed with Lyon that she would be allowed to return to Iceland for the rest of her pregnancy.
Everything seemed to be peaceful for a moment.
– Until I didn’t get my monthly salary. I was only paid a small percentage of it as part of social security, Gunnarsdottir says.
– At first I thought it was just a printing error. But I checked with other players about their situation, just to be sure. All of them had been paid correctly.
After that, he was not paid the next month’s salary either. Gunnarsdottir and her agent then contacted Ponsot.
This didn’t answer at first. In the end, he apologized for the missing wages and told Gunnarsdottir that they would be received. However, he finally appealed to French law in the following month’s salary payment and announced that the club would not owe anything else to its player.
The club threatened
The handwringing over wages began. Gunnarsdottir’s agent Ness first demanded the club to pay the salaries on several occasions. After that, the French players’ association and the international football players’ association Fifpro sided with the player.
The salary payment requirement was based on a recent regulation made by the International Football Association, which guarantees players a full salary even when they are pregnant.
The Icelander, his agent and Fifpro decided to take the matter to Fifa’s internal football tribunal. Lyon intervened in this.
– If Sara takes this matter to Fifa, she has no future here, Gunnarsdottir says the director of sports, Ponsot, said.
– I was shocked by it and really hurt. How could the club do that? I was pregnant and I thought the club was going to fire me. I was angry, he describes his feelings.
Gunnarsdottir continued to train throughout her pregnancy. The club had no contact with him.
She gave birth in November 2021 and returned according to Lyon in January.
According to the Icelander, the club started treating him differently, according to him, because he had had a child. For example, he was denied the opportunity to bring his son with him on trips to away games, even though he was still breastfeeding his child.
The Fifa court ruled
At the same time, Fifpro took Gunnarsdottir’s case to the Fifa court. Lyon’s sporting director Ponsot told his star player that he was surprised by the decision, but said it was also his right. He denied that he had said that Gunnarsdottir had no future in Lyon, but that the head coach told him By Sonia Bompastor having said so.
Chairman of the club Jean-Michel Aulaswho has played a significant role in the club’s growth into a giant in women’s competitions, receives criticism from Gunnarsdottir.
– He came into the room when I was talking with Vincent (Ponsot). He didn’t even greet me, let alone look at Ragnar who was with me. Just five minutes earlier, Vincent had assured me that nothing in the club’s activities was personal, he states in the story.
Fifa court gave his verdict (you move to another service) in May 2022. It ordered Lyon to pay all withheld wages to Gunnarsdottir with interest. The decision became public last Tuesday.
Lyon demanded reasons for the decision so that it could appeal the verdict. The court opened its decision-making, stating that the club had neglected its employee’s duty of care, among other things, because it did not keep in touch with its pregnant player.
Lyon did not appeal. Gunnarsdottir moved to Juventus in July 2022.
Terribly dismayed
Lyon replied (you will switch to another service) later to Gunnarsdottir’s exit. According to it, it has “always been a leading factor in women’s football and in supporting its athletes in all life situations”. According to the club, it respected French law in the case, although it says it is “restrictive in some cases”.
According to Lyon, it did everything for its player, allowing him to go to Iceland and offering all his support when he returned to France. The French club says it will accept the decision made by the Fifa court as a new legal precedent, regarding players who become pregnant in the future.
Top female soccer players have been appalled by the incident and actively shared the article on social media.
– This is really shameful from Lyon. Their culture has a lot to develop. You can talk as much as you can about supporting women, but this does not go hand in hand with your actions. I am asking you to be a club that always supports women and not a club that has done it once, former Lyon player and US national team captain Megan Rapinoe your tweet (you will switch to another service).
Also the Finnish national team’s all-time top scorer Linda Sällström commented on the incident to Sporten.
– I’m not terribly upset about it, unfortunately. I’m still very disappointed. Gunnarsdottir was left alone and the club even threatened her in return for demanding what was rightfully hers. It can’t be like that, says Sällström.