Monday 2 May 2022 The Guardian •
News^3
‘It’s win-win’: female football stars celebrate
professional upgrade as Italy levels the fi eld
Angela Giuff rida
Rome
When Sara Gama and her Juventus
Women teammates played for the
fi rst time at the club’s Allianz Stadium
in Turin in March 2019, she knew the
moment marked a signifi cant leap
forward in the acceptance of wom-
en’s football in Italy.
More than 39,000 spectators fi lled
the stadium, which until then had
only been played in by men, break-
ing the previous 14,000 record for a
women’s match in Italy. To top off
the occasion, Juventus beat Fioren-
tina 1-0.
“There was a lot of emotion
because it was the first time we
played in such a big stadium, and in
front of so many people,” said Gama,
a celebrated defender who captains
Juventus Women and the Italy wom-
en’s team. “We were aware that we
were making history ... but it wasn’t
the only important thing that had
happened in women’s football.”
Juventus Women was formed two
years earlier after it became obliga-
tory for top fl ight men’s clubs to
have a women’s team. In addition,
the match at the Allianz came on the
heels of the national side qualifying
for a place in the 2019 Women’s World
Cup for the fi rst time in two decades.Now Gama and her fellow Serie A
female colleagues are celebrating
another epoch-making change after
fi nally being upgraded to profes-
sional status by the Italian Football
Federation (FIGC). The change ends
years of top division female players
having their salaries capped due to
being recognised only as amateur
athletes, and takes eff ect from 1 July,
in time for next season.
Gama, 33, was among those who
fought hard for the upgrade, which
removes a gross salary cap of €30,
(£25,000) a season and entitles the
women to contracts that include
social security contributions such as
health insurance and pensions. TheSing it loud: Dartford warbler
bounces back from the brink
Steven Morris
The distinctive sight and sound of a
Dartford warbler singing from the top
of a sprig of gorse in the May sunshine
is making a welcome comeback after
the bird almost became extinct half
a century ago.
Dartford warblers suff ered a pop-
ulation crash and were at risk of
vanishing from the UK in the 1960s,
The population has recovered in
recent years and by 2019 there were 23
pairs found at the Minsmere coastal
reserve ; the fi gures show that there
are now 37 pairs there.
Mel Kemp , the warden at Mins-
mere, who has overseen heathland
restoration at the reserve, said:
“We have seen a steady increase in
the number of Dartford warblers,
alongside other species relying on
heathland habitats such as nightjar.
All the hard work of restoring this
habitat has really paid off .”
Dartford warblers are long-tailed
warblers ; the slate grey and chest-
nut males are often spotted singing
from the tops of gorse bushes hoping
to attract a mate.As well as being the perfect singing
platform, the spiky shrub provides
a safe nesting place and hunting
ground for the bird, which special-
ises in picking spiders and caterpillars
from their hiding places.Heathland supports a wide range
of wildlife but it is one of the UK’s
most threatened homes for nature,
with 80% lost since the 1800s through
change of land use. Kemp said: “We
need to continue to restore, manage
and protect the heathland we have
left here in the UK to best ensure the
future of not just the Dartford war-
bler but many other species.”
As well as doing well in Dorset and
Suff olk, Dartford warblers have been
seen at RSPB reserves in Devon, Kent,
Surrey and Hampshire.
Last week it was revealed that a
pair of ospreys in Poole harbour had
produced an egg , the fi rst breeding
attempt for the species in southern
England for almost 200 years.largely because of loss of the lowland
heathland they thrive in.
But the RSPB is reporting the high-
est recorded number of Dartford
warblers – 183 pairs – at its reserves
including RSPB Arne in Dorset and
RSPB Minsmere in Suff olk.
As well as needing the cover pro-
vided by gorse, the bird is susceptible
to harsh weather and was almost
wiped out in the big freeze of 1962 -
but recent milder weather has helped
it to bounce back.minimum wage agreed for a Serie A
player aged between 19 and 23 is
€20,263 a season, and €26,664 from
age 24. However, Gama, who has
become an icon of the women’s game
in Italy, is not expecting her wage to
match that of her multimillion- earn-
ing male counterparts anytime soon.
“This is the minimum, so obvi-
ously there are players getting more,
and of course we are not at the same
level as the US women’s team, which
recently won an incredible fi ght over
equal pay,” she said. “I am quite prac-
tical and look at my realities: the fi rst
thing I need is to have the same work-
ing conditions as men .”
Gama, who previously played for
Paris Saint-Germain, said the change
would boost the credibility of Italian
women’s football abroad, and would
make it more attractive to sponsors
and foreign talent. “We want to be
better and better and this will help
the clubs to grow, so it’s win-win.”
Born in Trieste to an Italian mother
and a Congolese father, Gama was
passionate about football from an
early age, playing with the boys in her
neighbourhood. As her talent fl our-
ished, she joined a youth team. “I was
the only girl on the team,” she said. “It
was normal for my teammates to see
me play as we used to play together
as kids, and I soon found my space
on the team and had their respect.
Of course, when we played matches
the opponents were surprised to see
a girl playing, and sceptical.”
Although the Serie A women’s
league has existed in some form
since 1968, it was only in 2017 that it
became mandatory for men’s Serie A
clubs to have a women’s team. How-
ever, ACF Fiorentina was a step ahead
of the game, having established a
women’s squad a few years earlier.
“Fiorentina was the fi rst com-
pany to believe in this movement,”
said Daniela Sabatino , an attacker
for Fiorentina’s women’s team and
a member of the national football
team. “ So we’re really happy to fi nally
be considered professional.”
Sabatino turns 37 in June and said
she would only be able to enjoy the
benefi ts for a short time, but recalling
a period when women had to juggle
training with paid jobs, didn’t have
physiotherapists and played on inad-
equate pitches, she said the change
would inspire future generations,
while hopefully earning the wom-
en’s game a higher media profi le.
Gama and Sabatino are now pre-
paring for Italy’s participation in the
Women’s Euro 2022 tournamentin
England this summer, and for World
Cup 2023 qualifi ers later in the year.▼ A jubilant Italian squad after their
1-0 win against Switzerland in a Fifa
World Cup 2023 qualifi er last month
PHOTOGRAPH: MAURIZIO BORSARI/SHUTTERSTOCK▲ ‘Making history’: Sara Gama was
among those who fought for changeDartford warblers thrive
in lowland heathland