Midfielder Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir has been awarded more than $88,000 in back pay that was withheld by her French club team, Lyon, in violation of FIFA’s rules protecting maternity rights. Gunnarsdóttir, who now plays for Juventus in Italy, wrote her account of the salary dispute for The Players’ Tribune website and the details of the ruling by FIFA’s Football Tribunal were made public this week. According to FIFPro, the international players union that represented Gunnarsdóttir in the dispute, the case is the first to test FIFA rules protecting players’ maternity rights that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2021. “This should have been the happiest moment of my life,” Gunnarsdóttir wrote. “All I wanted was to enjoy my pregnancy, and work my ass off to come back to help the team and the club.
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