Yesterday’s rebels are today’s pioneers

It’s not just football on stage during the Euro. The show on the field? It’s almost a pretext. Of course there will be incredible matches and encounters that are much more conducive to naptime. The draw carried out this Monday suggests this. Obviously those who don’t care about football have the right to spend their summer without seeing a single minute of play. They will still be able to benefit indirectly. If only if they have a daughter, a niece, a neighbor who grew up wanting to play it like Beckham – or like Wälti.

Euro 2025 promises to increase opportunities for girls wanting to play football. That’s what it’s all about. A movement that goes beyond the simple tournament, to directly touch the population. Women’s football will not be slowed down in its momentum, because the complainers who criticize the event are railing against the whole world anyway.

No more debates on human rights in Qatar or the international travel that will take place between Canada, the United States and Mexico. Women’s football carries other battles. It transmits other values, and has done so for as long as female footballers have had the audacity to want to set foot on the pitch.

From unwanted to pioneers, only a few decades have passed. There are perhaps even a few years left for the general public to have more respect than tolerance towards female players. Or this change in status could take place quickly, over the course of a summer, as long as the spectators follow the same path as their new idols. Pioneers who would perhaps have digested less all the snakes that have had to be swallowed in football in recent years.

Rebecca Garcia is a journalist in the sports section. Holder of a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Neuchâtel, she is particularly interested in alpine skiing and the economics of sport.More info

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