Written by Recently, a soon-to-be-former Real Madrid women’s team player and Swedish international, Kosovare Asllani, talked about the “unhealthy and dangerous environment” at the club. This kind of story could be very damaging for a club of Real Madrid’s standards, even if their women’s team hasn’t been as prolific as the men’s team. Real Madrid Feminino has only existed for about eight years, played football for six of those years, and has actually been a part of Real Madrid since 2019 only. Regardless, no form of athletic organization should be creating a bad environment for their players to play in. It’s time to take a further look into Asllani’s comments and why this is exactly the type of environment for other organizations to not follow!
Previously, I wrote about an NFL player named Su’a Cravens and how he had detailed issues about a former head coach on the last team he played for. As I mentioned in that article, it can be a typical thing for former players to air out dirty laundry and bad experiences that they had. There could be an assumption made in this situation with Asllani’s statements too, that she is just talking about this now as an outgoing player. However, she has been receiving support now that Asllani made her statements, just as Cravens got witnesses to corroborate his tweets.
Asllani says the team has been forced to play through injuries, as the management team didn’t pay heed to the medical team’s warnings. She had an injury herself that caused a setback, and that played a part in her decision to leave the club. She did not want to be kept performing beyond acceptable limits anymore, and she wants to speak out now to prevent other women from going through similar experiences. “I have done a lot for the club from the beginning and I have seen that the club has not treated players well over the years” and “I care so much about the club, but I feel that it is in the wrong hands” are among the many quotes she’s directly provided about the situation. She tried to stay loyal to the club as much as she could, as she could have left the previous season but she decided to give Real Madrid another chance. She’s even said that there are an incredible number of past players who’ve gone through similar situations, which is very concerning for a top team like Real Madrid is supposed to be…
As if these allegations weren’t bad enough for the club to face, there is apparently still more to talk about… Asllani’s recent comments may have just been the tipping point for one particular fan, Om Arvind, who is the Managing Editor for Managing Madrid at SB Nation. He recently wrote an article detailing the various shortcomings of the Real Madrid Femenino club. I thought it was a pretty scathing report and was shocked that a club that considers itself to be one of the best not only in Spain but Europe could be going through such controversies. As Arvind stated in the title of his article, it is definitely time to take a harder look at Real Madrid Femenino’s management. So many problems like these cannot go on for this long! It is a good thing that Asllani came forward when she did, and here’s hoping that the necessary changes that need to be made actually will.