Equality Is For Everyone: Women’s Football Superstar Ada Hegerberg Calls For More Equality In The Game

The days are flying and it’s important to remember: The 2019 Women’s World Cup in France is almost around the corner!

But, the closer to the date of the Women’s World Cup, the greater the surprise among the unsuspecting who do not know that the best player in the world, Ada Hegerberg, will not be. It is not because Norway has not qualified for the appointment; quite the opposite. Her country will participate in the Cup in France but she decided not to play to strengthen her claim for equality.

This Wednesday (22nd May 2019), just days before her new triumph with Olympique Lyonnais in the Women’s Champions League, Hegerberg was recognized as the best footballer of the season by the BBC. However, in the interview she had,  she reiterated that it’s not about asking for money alone, but something much deeper.

“Football is the biggest passion in my life and I have been working hard to be where I am, but it’s so important for me that I can not sit and watch things go in the right direction,” said the Norwegian forward, author of three of the four goals in the final of Europe against FC Barcelona.

As she had said when she announced his disengagement from the national team, “it’s not always all about money”. “It’s about attitude and respect.”

“We’re talking about giving girls the same opportunities to dream as boys,” she said.

“If you can change those attitudes from the beginning, things will change, men in suits will not be able to ignore it, they’ll understand it someday, they ‘ll understand that it’s a social issue and modern football,” she added.

Hegerberg moved away from the Norwegian team in 2017 and did not change her position despite the fact that last year the Federation of his country made a historic decision to end the gender wage gap between his men’s and women’s teams.

“It would be easy for me to play, do my thing and remain silent, but it’s much bigger than that, winning all these trophies and having this success gives you a voice, and it’s not about me, it was never about me. To generate a change in our sport, that should motivate many others, we are in this together, if we do not push together, women’s football will not change on its own,” she analyzed.

“One day a journalist asked me if I consider myself a footballer or someone who is fighting for equality, and I told him that it is impossible to be in football and not fight for equality, when we are all together in this, in carrying our sport in the right direction, we will be very strong,” she concluded.

The World Cup in France will start on June 7 and will run until July 7. No one knows who will win the acclaimed trophy, but what’s for sure is that it will be an amazing event to enjoy and watch, thanks to the great support and claims many footballers are making to show the women’s game is also part of the modern game of the future.