Players' experiences highlight gulf in women’s football working conditions across Europe

• FIFPRO’s Global Employment Report finds average monthly club pay of €755 and median pay of €600 among players surveyed in Eastern Europe
• Average pay in Central/West Europe is more than four times higher, highlighting the gulf within the continent
• Nasia Peiou (Greece) and Ana Filipovic (Croatia) describe balancing football with other work and call attention to gaps in player protection

Women’s players in Eastern Europe are combining football with other jobs and using savings to cover unpaid summer months, as FIFPRO’s latest research highlights low wages and insecure working conditions across the region.

Speaking during a FIFPRO media call on the 2026 Global Employment Report: Working Conditions in Women’s Football, Panathinaikos (Greece) midfielder Nasia Peiou and Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) goalkeeper Ana Filipovic described the challenges behind the findings.

Average monthly club pay among players surveyed in Eastern Europe was €755, compared with €2,237 globally. Median monthly pay – the midpoint of reported salaries – was €600 in Eastern Europe, compared with €1,435 globally.

The regional average also fell below the national minimum wages used as benchmarks in the report, including those in Croatia, Greece and Poland.

The gulf within Europe is particularly stark. Average monthly club pay in Central/West Europe was €3,425, more than four times the figure recorded in Eastern Europe, while median monthly pay was €2,000.

FIFPRO Europe President David Terrier said: "The gap in conditions between Western Europe and Eastern Europe is almost as wide as the gap with other confederations. With average football wages below national minimum wage in the east, becoming a professional footballer is not a genuine reality for most players, however talented they are, unless they move abroad."

Unpaid months and difficult choices

Among respondents receiving club pay, just 28 percent in Eastern Europe were paid for all 12 months, compared with 66 percent globally.

For Peiou, the gaps in pay mean players must find other work while continuing to prepare for the following season.

"Most of the players are getting paid for nine to 10 months out of 12," she said. "We have to spend money on our nutrition and our everyday training because, during the summer, everybody is alone. That doesn’t provide safety for us."

Peiou said combining work with the demands of football was also forcing players to leave the game early.

"I have many friends who retired from football at 25, 26 or 27 because they cannot do both at the same time," she said. "Working eight hours a day cannot help your body train at night."

Filipovic described a similar situation in Croatia, where she combines football with student work and saves money to cover the months without club pay.

"I know I have to work additionally to have money for nutrition and additional training before pre-season," she said. "I’m still living with my parents, so I don’t have to pay for an apartment. It’s not easy, but I’m getting used to it."

Contracts and player protection

The report also found that only 28 percent of players surveyed in Eastern Europe had standard individual employment contracts, half the global proportion of 56 percent.

Filipovic said she received an agreed payment without a written contract, leaving uncertainty over her protection.

"Some don’t have a physical contract. We’re getting paid into our bank accounts without a signed paper," she said. "That’s also a disadvantage because we don’t know what our rights are."

Dr Frankie Brown, FIFPRO’s Head of Research and Strategy for Women’s Football, said the regional findings showed why the growth of the women’s game must be assessed through players’ everyday experiences.

"By focusing on the players' lived experience, we can understand how that economic boom at the top hasn’t been enough to provide a safety net for the industry," she said.

Brown highlighted the role of player unions in securing minimum standards through standard contracts and collective agreements, with players helping shape the protections they need.

"We will have players at the table to hear their input from across the globe," she said. "Those things are incredibly important to protect the players."

Terrier added: "It is important for federations and player unions to work together on setting a floor of minimum conditions that anchors the sustainable development of player careers, otherwise the region will continue to be left behind when it comes to continental and international competitions."