FIFPro, the world’s footballers’ union, has published a long report that casts heavy shadows on the work of Pomigliano CFa club founded in 2019 and which from 2021/22 to 2023/24 participated in the Italian Serie A before not registering for the next tournament and disappearing. A report in which we read about false contracts, forged signatures, wage deductions, medical negligence, harassment and physical assault against players who thus turned to the union and the AIC in Italy. The footballers, who remained anonymous, in fact recounted a whole series of negative situations both on a sporting and personal level such as the entry of people close to the club’s top brass who entered the girls’ apartments without warning or sent inappropriate messages.
The ‘Player A‘ (as she is referred to to keep her profile secret) said that Pomigliano had threatened to take legal action against her if she did not play despite a serious shoulder injury, later explaining that the club had unlawfully terminated her contract after refusing to pay for the necessary surgery, but not only: “As the season progressed, we were not getting paid on time. We were constantly asking for pay slips from the administration, but they were not responding to emails or WhatsApp messages. When you haven’t received that money for months and you have other bills to pay, it’s tough.. – the player continues – I initially approached the AIC in April for advice on my shoulder injury. I was bringing the club notes from an orthopedic doctor saying I needed surgery, but they ignored it and my name was put on the matchday roster anyway. I started receiving threatening messages from the club, saying that if I didn’t show up for training, despite the injury, they would take me to court.. The club didn’t even tell me about the resolution, I found out from a lawyer from the Italian footballers’ union.”
Another Pomigliano player, ‘Player B’, explained that she had not received any salary for the whole of last season and had to share a moldy room with another teammate despite promises to the contrary: “They stopped answering my agent and when I confronted the club president, he promised that they would ‘take care of it’, but it never happened. – continues the player – NThey had no one to take care of the players coming back from injury. They used frozen water bottles for the first month because they didn’t have a working ice machine. Things got worse when I got injured again and the club was reluctant to do an MRI, they didn’t want to do an ultrasound.”
‘Player C’ instead tells another behind the scenes story: “When we went for the medicals, they only subjected us to cardio, I didn’t do any other personal medicals before training and neither did my teammates. The president thought we didn’t want to play even if we were injured. They wanted us to give 100% on the pitch, but when we got injured, the club didn’t take care of the treatment. – she continues – They didn’t deserve to have a women’s football team. They forced us to go to church, it didn’t matter if you were Muslim or atheist, it was mandatory for everyone.. If there’s a chance they want to build a team again, it shouldn’t happen.”
‘Player D’ instead spoke about the harassment she suffered from a man linked to the property: “When I first got there he helped me, but then he repeatedly asked to have dinner with me and even though I repeatedly refused, pointing out the unprofessional nature, he continued to write to me. that he wanted to spend an evening with me, that he wanted to cuddle me and similar phrases. It seemed that everyone was involved in his perversion because of how they behaved with him. – continues the footballer – One morning, I was cleaning my apartment wearing only a t-shirt and underwear. I had my headphones on, I turned around and he was in my hallway, staring at me.. Since I wasn’t fully dressed, I told him to get out. He said he had to show people around the apartment, but he never told us he was coming, he didn’t even knock, he just walked in. I thought it was inappropriate. I ended up buying a camera and I have footage of people coming into my bedroom when I wasn’t there, without knowing or giving advance notice.”
They all agree on the falsification of some documents and contracts: “They had created a completely new document, changed the dates and signatures on both sides.. – Player D continues – Luckily I had kept the original copy of the contract, so it was easy to prove that they had manipulated it. I would really like to see the club penalized for falsifying the signatures of the players because they have done it year after year with many girls. They can’t keep treating people this way and get away with it.“.