Ballon d'Or winner, Ada Hegerberg's stance to sit out the 2019 World Cup a huge leap towards gender equality in football?

Ballon d’Or and activism.

“Another example of the ridiculous sexism that still exists in sport. Why do women have still have to put up with that s**t? What questions did they ask Mbappe and Modric (this year’s winner of the men’s Ballon d’Or)?”

— Andy Murray via Instagram

Ada Hegerberg is a fascinating figure on and off the football pitch. The five-time Champions League winner has made headlines recently after it was confirmed that she will not be playing at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France. The 23-year-old Lyon forward quit the Norwegian national team in 2017 citing her grievance at the unequal treatment of the women’s team and their male counterparts as her reason for abandoning her national duty.

According to Norwegian head coach, Martin Sjörgen, there have been talks with the Ballon d’Or winner to try and convince her to take part in the tournament, talks that have apparently bared no fruit. Hegerberg has maintained her stance she left the national team in 2017 even after a historic salary review by the Norwegian football association saw the women’s team receive equal pay for the first time in their history.

“Can you twerk?”

Ada Hegerberg of Lyon celebrates with the trophy during the UEFA Womens Champions League Final between VfL Wolfsburg and Olympique Lyonnais on May 24, 2018 in Kiev, Ukraine.

(May 23, 2018 - Source: David Ramos/Getty Images Europe)

A question we probably wouldn’t expect to be asked at football’s biggest night to the woman who has just made history, winning the first ever Women’s Ballon d’Or. When the French DJ, Martin Solveig asked Ada Hegerberg if she knew how to twerk, it was probably one of the cringiest moments in football history. It is an understatement to say that the joke did not go down well with Hegerberg herself and other pundits including tennis champion, Andy Murray who furiously reacted to the infamous questioning, calling out the double standards in the sporting world.

The Gender Pay Gap in football

Hegerberg could not hide her frustration at that moment and she has never been the one to shy away from speaking out and making a stand. Her absence that the World Cup is the biggest statement she can make in protest of the treatment of women’s national teams.

The US National Women’s team have been vocal over the years, particularly former captain Hope Solo. The retired goalkeeper has publically supported Hegerberg’s decision to boycott the World Cup stating that she respected her decision remarking, "We're not going to create the change that we want to see in women's football until people like Ada take a stance,” in a recent interview.

A lawsuit has been filed against US Soccer Federation by the entire US women’s team. The lawsuit is disputing the pay structure and other incentives that the US man’s team receive that the women are not privileged to, including the charting of private jets for matches among other special treatments.

Similar complaints have been launched by the Super Falcons and Banyana Banyana who despite outperforming their male counterparts in tournaments, have continued to be paid significantly less for their efforts. These players are undervalued and the defence for this is usually the popularity of the men’s game compared to that of women. It was just last year when the first ever Ballon d’Or was awarded to a woman which shows that women’s football is coming to the forefront, only now. The times are definitely changing and with this kind of stand by the world’s best female player, Ada Hegerberg, the message is loud and clear; give women the respect they deserve.

“A question we probably wouldn’t expect to be asked at football’s biggest night to the woman who has just made history, winning the first ever Women’s Ballon d’Or. When the French DJ, Martin Solveig asked Ada Hegerberg if she knew how to twerk, it was probably one of the cringiest moments in football history.”

— Margaret Mandeya, FirstTouch Africa

As Hegerberg continues to make headlines for her decision to sit out of France 2019, the conversation will inevitably lead back to the state of women's football and what needs to be done to rectify the situation to balance the scale for women in football. This could possibly be one of the tipping points for equality in football.

Nigeria: Asisat Oshoala not in Nigeria’s squad for France friendly

The three-time women’s African footballer of the year, Asisat Oshoala has been left out of the Super Falcons’ squad to face France in Le Mans on 6 April. A Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) official highlighted that her Chinese club Dalian Quanjian refused to release her on the grounds that she had once missed pre-season training after returning late from international duty. Oshoala was originally in the 23 women’s squad together with other five high profile internationals who have also been omitted. The NFF official also added that some players had passport and visa issues hence the omission. The former Arsenal and Liverpool striker refused to acknowledge any alleged acts of indiscipline and insisted that she is missing the friendly to sort out her work permit.

Asisat Oshoala helped Nigeria to their record eighth Women’s African Nations title in Cameroon 2016. The friendly is part of Nigeria’s preparations to ace the qualifiers for the 2018 African Women Cup of Nations to be held in Ghana this November. Their performance in the tournament will also determine if they will secure a spot at the 2019 Women’s FIFA World Cup in France. The Super Falcons have appeared in the world cup since 1991 but have failed to reach the last four on any occasion.

Are we seeing a wave of many teams starting to take Women’s football as seriously as they should?

This report might come off as a surprise to many that Manchester United, one of the biggest football clubs, had not registered a Women’s team up to this point after scraping it altogether in 2005. However, that is out of the way now as the club have decided to register to join the Women’s League 2 in the upcoming season. This decision has probably resulted from continuous criticism from respected people in the footballing world with Former United player and current Lioness’ boss Phil Neville stating that he would have a conversation with them about it. Manchester United chairman Ed Woodward has said that “The Women’s side should be built with the same image as the male’s team.” If their application is successful, the women’s side will be based at the Cliff training ground in Salford. Besides this decision being long overdue, what are your thoughts?

Zimbabwe: Mighty Warriors put their game face on

The Southern African country’s first team has commenced preparations ahead of the Africa Women Cup of Nations in the capital, Harare. Team manager, Charity Munemo is delighted with players’ swift turn up for training. Only a handful players are still expected to join the Mighty Warriors camp, including star striker, Rutendo “Madzimai” Makore who is plying her trade at Spanish side, Sporting de Huelva.

"So far we have 27 players in camp and I can say the turnout was very good. It's quite impressive because sometimes we start camp without most of the players but this time around we had most of them on the first day.” - Charity Munemo

Coach, Sithethelelwe Sibanda otherwise known as “Kwinji15” for her heroics on the pitch has maintained the squad that won silver at last September’s COSAFA championships.

The Mighty warriors will have to overcome a tricky Namibia on April 5 and 8 in their first-round encounter to face either Tanzania or Zambia.

African Football 101: FirstTouch’s 8 points

Introduction

Nwako Kanu, Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o, Yaya Toure, George Weah, Samuel Kuffor and now Mohamed Salah – these are some of the big name African footballers who have illuminated Europe’s top domestic leagues. But with so many dazzling stars over the years, what does football on the African continent really look like? Do they have leagues, transfer windows? Are there any more Sadio Mane’s that some clubs could benefit from? How do Africans and the world see their football? Well, the list of questions goes on but here is one perspective from an African.

A.It all begins with a rubbish ball

Old newspapers, plastics, string, foam rubber and a touch of fire are all the right ingredients that make a soccer ball. In the streets of Harare, kids barely five years old scan through rubbish dumps to collect materials to make their own soccer balls either because their parents cannot afford a real one or that it would smash windows when they play in the streets. That’s where stars are first made, in the tiny tarred roads separating homesteads, battling it out barefooted. Fast forward a few more years and then the kids are old enough to play in dust community football pitches or at school where they soon become town celebrities. This is largely the narrative, not only in Harare but most parts of Africa. They are not a lot of fancy football academies there.

B. Club football

Probably 1 in maybe 1000 talented footballers actually end up playing for the local clubs. Most of them are lost in the system of “get good grades to get a job,” a popular slogan of risk averse parents. But who would blame them, as most of the domestic football leagues are poorly funded and dominated not by young talent but more mature “talent” looking to fend for their families.

For those few who actually make it, there is a bit of silver lining in some leagues. For example, the South African Premier League (PSL) which is fast becoming a powerhouse. It ships players mainly from Zimbabwe, Nigeria and many other African countries because in reality, other countries seem to host better talent than them. They do have a footballing calendar closely aligned to that in Europe and transfer windows where millions of rands are spent. But for a long time, club football on the continent has been dominated by North African clubs such as Al Ahly and Zamalek.

It is in some of these football leagues, where the Mo Salahs or George Weahs are first spotted and find themselves living the dream in Europe. There is another route where affluent parents send their children to academies abroad or that the families relocate and the kids found themselves growing up in foreign countries and pursuing the dream. This is the case of Alex Iwobi, the Nigerian and Arsenal youngster who grew up in England, Delle Alli (a Nigerian adopted by English parents), Mario Balotelli and many more.

C. Internationals

Like anywhere else in the world, when nations clash, its mostly about the bragging rights. Over the years, Africa has been dominated by West Africans such as Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Mali and Ivory Coast. They are known for their huge physicality while North Africans who consistently rank hire boast of some scintillating passing football, probably because they are close to countries like France and Spain. But all this is slowly changing, physical or scintillating football is coming from anywhere, it all depends on who is coaching the team especially now when most African teams employ coaches from outside the continent.

In terms of performances on global tournaments like the World Cup, because of the talent both at home and abroad, Africans should be doing more. But usually, inconsistent showings are earmarked by stories of low or non-payment of allowances and lack of insurance for players.

The nicknames of most national teams are as fierce as they come, Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, Super Eagles of Nigeria, Lions of Terranga (Senegal), Warriors of Zimbabwe, Lions of the Atlas (Morrocco), Desert foxes (Algeria), Copper Bullets of Zambia, the list is endless. What a powerhouse of names!