“I want OL to know that no, it’s not OK. It is about my rights as a worker, as a woman and as a human being. Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir took up the pen to denounce the behavior of her former club during her pregnancy in 2021 in a column published on the site The Players’Tribune, tuesday. The midfielder did not taste the treatment she received from Olympique Lyonnais and notably criticized Vincent Ponsot, general manager of football.
If she had not pointed out these problems when she returned to competition, the Icelandic reported that Lyon had not paid her her full salary. “This whole situation was driving me crazy. How could a team behave like this? “, she writes. The UNFP and FIFPro came to the aid of Gunnarsdottir, who took the case to the FIFA tribunal. In May 2022, Lyon was ordered to pay more than 80,000 euros in salary arrears.
“FIFA is now criticizing us for not having offered another job to Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir during her sick leave and then her maternity leave, while at the same time the law forbids us to do so in France and the player had expressly asked us to be able to return to live in Iceland”, defended OL in a press release. The club recalls that it has accepted that its player spend her maternity leave in Iceland. “Olympique Lyonnais has always been a forerunner when it comes to women’s football and supporting athletes at every stage of their lives. »
“No future in this club”
Gunnarsdottir, however, explains that she did not feel sufficiently supported following her pregnancy. “The club asked me not to travel with my baby because it could disturb the other players. But I was breastfeeding and this baby was too small, he needed me. I couldn’t make the trips if they didn’t accept that I bring it with me. »
After these episodes, the Icelander understood that “as a young mother”, she had “no future in this club”. The controversy comes as Amel Majri returns to competition after her maternity leave. “Thank you Amel for considering after your knee injury to become an athlete mom and for having, with Sonia, Vincent, reinforced the emergence of an exceptional status as a very high level professional player while giving birth to your little Maryam “, tweeted Jean-Michel Aulas on this subject.
