Italian club Lazio Women has been ordered to pay compensation to Swedish footballer Maja Gothberg over a pregnancy-related contract termination.
The landmark ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found the team unlawfully ended her employment, creating a legal precedent for how clubs treat female footballers during pregnancy on the basis of FIFA's maternity regulations.
The case could have important implications on how "pregnancy protection are applied across professional football in future," players' association FIFPRO said on Wednesday.
"This case was never only about football: it was about being treated fairly and with respect at an important moment in my life," said Gothberg according to the FIFPRO statement. "The ruling sends a message that pregnancy should never be treated as a problem or a reason to deny a player labour opportunities."
Gothberg played for Lazio during the 2023-24 season and helped the club secure promotion to Serie A.
During contract negotiations in the summer of 2024, following a verbal agreement, all that was missing was the midfielder’s signature.
Then Gothberg discovered she was pregnant and informed the club – as a result, the contract was not finalized. Gothberg regarded her pregnancy as the reason for this and took legal action. The club maintained that no contract had been concluded.
Lausanne-based CAS ruled that an employment relationship already existed even without a signed contract. The decisive reason for the unlawful termination of the employment relationship was Gothberg’s pregnancy, it said.
Furthermore, the CAS ruling set an important precedent regarding the confidentiality of medical information relating to pregnancies.
"This case shows that FIFA’s Maternity Regulations are not just words on paper and that they provide real protections for players," said FIFPRO's Alexandra Gomez Bruinewoud.
"The significance of this ruling goes beyond Maja Gothberg and confirms clubs cannot simply walk away from an employment relationship, even if this is not fully formalized, once they learn a player is pregnant."
