On November 7 we invited Merel van Dongen for lunch. This famous Dutch football star plays
as a central defender, left back and midfielder for Atlético de Madrid. Merel has also been in
the Dutch squad for years and took part in the 2013 European Championships and the 2015,
2019 and 2023 World Cups. In 2019 she won the silver medal with the Dutch team. Merel will
speak about gender equality in top sport. A current topic about which a debate has been going
on for a long time.
The Premier League and Women’s Super League (WSL) in England are a good example of the
current inequality in salaries. Female Super League players earn an average of €50,000 per
year, while for men this amount is around €3 million. In Spain the situation is not much
different. LaLiga players take home an average of €2.3 million, while women have to settle for
€30,000.
However, thanks to the increasing popularity of women’s football, progress is being made. The
gap to be bridged is big and in addition to the economic compensation, there are many other
obstacles in top sport that will have to be overcome before there is gender equality. Merel will
tell us more about this on November 7 th at The Haciendas Warehouse. For a drink, a pleasant
lunch and a fascinating discussion.
