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Why did FIFA extend paid leave to mothers who had not given birth?
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In 2024, FIFA recognised that becoming a mother need not involve giving birth for it to warrant employment protection. The football governing body extended its framework to cover adoption and non-biological motherhood, treating family formation as more than a matter of physical recovery. Approved by its Council in May, the amendments took effect on 1 June 2024. For female players and coaches covered by the provisions, the issue was career continuity: how to make room for parenthood within a sporting career. These were sporting employment rules, not national legislation.
The distinction was concrete. In the June 2024 regulations, maternity leave meant at least 14 paid weeks, including at least eight after birth. Separately, a female player or coach who was not the biological mother had an to at least eight paid weeks of family leave, to be taken within six months of the birth. Adoption leave also had to be taken within six months of formal adoption and could not be combined with family leave for the same child. Paid absence should not be read as a guarantee of full salary: the definitions alone do not establish the payment rate.
That distinction matters beyond the touchline: recognising care alongside recovery changes what an employment framework is designed to . FIFA’s 2025 benchmarking report surveyed 86 leagues and 669 clubs, illustrating the international breadth of the women’s club game—not the total number of clubs worldwide. Yet protection is not evidence of consistent implementation. The sources used here establish neither leave uptake nor effects on career retention. This is a dated account of the 2024 reforms, not confirmation that their wording remains unchanged today. Anyone seeking practical rights advice should check the complete applicable provisions and their interaction with national law.