Women's World Cup: Sub-standard pitches and lack of medical checks blighted qualifying, says Fifpro
- Published
England were one of 30 teams to qualify for the 2023 Women's World Cup, joining hosts Australia and New Zealand in the finals
Many players in Women's World Cup qualifying had to endure poor pitches and did not receive proper medical checks, the world players' union said.
A survey of 362 players also found 29% were not paid for qualification games.
Fifpro said Fifa must improve conditions for all players in qualification for the next World Cup.
"Any stat below 100% in access to important medical checks is unacceptable," Fifpro women's football lead Sarah Gregorius said.
"We just want to work with whoever wants to work with us, particularly Fifa and the confederations, to understand why that is the case and how that can be prevented [from happening again] because that is certainly not something that should be acceptable to anybody."
The survey of players from all six Fifa confederations found 54 per cent did not receive a pre-tournament medical examination, while 70 per cent did not receive heart monitoring before qualifying began and 39 per cent did not have access to mental health support.
"With the question about mental health, there was a psychologist that came with us over the first week there, but we met him late in the week we came into camp," an anonymous Uefa player is quoted as saying in the report, external.
"My feeling is that it is more of a box to check than actually bringing in a person who understands the pressure of being a national team player in a tournament or a professional player.
"Personally, I would have really needed a person to talk to but the person that came with us hasn't played the game at this level and just graduated with his degree and I didn't feel like I could talk to him."
Lack of a level playing field in the women's game?
Two-thirds of the players surveyed had to take leave or unpaid leave from another form of employment to participate in qualifying, with only 40% of participants identifying themselves as a professional footballer in the survey.
"We are not financially supported enough. Some of our girls had to take unpaid vacation at work and it wasn't sure if they can even attend the tournament," another anonymous Uefa player said.
Thirty-one per cent said training pitches were not of an elite standard, while 32 per cent said match day pitches and stadia were not good enough. A total of 66% said recovery facilities were not elite standard or provided at all, while 70% were unhappy with gym facilities.
Scheduling was also criticised, with a third of players surveyed saying they did not have enough time between matches. The report details that 34% of players had one rest day or less between arriving for national team service and playing a qualifier, while 39% had one day or less between the end of international action and resuming club training.
"My concerns are that some team accommodations and facilities are better than others, so some teams are better rested for games," an anonymous player from the Oceania confederation said.
"One thing is that all teams should have the same standard off the pitch, to make sure on the pitch we are playing fair."
Qualification format called into question
Fifpro also criticised the qualification process for often being determined through performance in other tournaments, such as the Copa America, and said it should also be a standalone event across all confederations.
Uefa was the only confederation to host a dedicated World Cup qualification tournament, with players involved in up to 12 games to ensure qualification. No other tournament leading to World Cup qualification saw players involved in more than seven matches.
In the Conmebol (South American) confederation, qualification matches for the World Cup, Olympics and Pan-American Games were all played in the same month.
The union did praise Fifa for "listening to the voice of players" in ensuring those playing at the finals in Australia and New Zealand this summer will benefit from the same conditions as their male counterparts in Qatar last year, external - but wants this expanded to qualification.
The foreword to the qualifying conditions report, co-signed by Fifpro president David Aganzo and general secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann, read: "During qualification the conditions that the players are exposed to and expected to deliver in, during some of the biggest competitive moments of their lives, are not up to the standards of elite international football, putting both the players and the sport at risk.
"In highlighting these conditions and the status of players across the globe, Fifpro firmly calls on the industry to take a closer look at the qualification processes in each of the six confederations.
"This is so we all can commit to meaningful changes that look at the overall opportunities the FIFA Women's World Cup can deliver to a greater number of players than those that just appear at the final tournament in July and August this year."
BBC Sport has contacted Fifa for comment.