The Portugal Professional Footballers' Union (SJPF) has launched its second annual training camp exclusively for female players, a month-long initiative designed to combat structural bias and create pathways for women locked out of professional contracts. With 33 registered participants and training sessions running five mornings a week until mid-August, the program addresses a persistent reality in Portuguese football: while male players routinely access year-round development infrastructure, women without club placement often face a void.
The Contract Gap
Only 190 of Portugal's 328 top-tier female footballers held professional contracts in the 2023-24 season—leaving 42% in semi-professional limbo. The disparity reflects deeper institutional patterns. Union officials report that families still doubt whether football environments are safe or appropriate for daughters, fueled by outdated gender stereotypes. Female players in Portugal routinely face misogynistic insults on and off the pitch—terms that question their femininity or relegate them to domestic roles.
The camp runs Monday to Friday, 9:30–11:30 a.m., at the Player Academy in Odivelas, led by former national-team striker Carla Couto and a staff of ex-internationals. Beyond fitness drills, participants receive workshops on mental health, financial literacy, contract law, and post-career planning—tools rarely bundled into grassroots women's programs. Access is free, removing a barrier that often prevents talented players from disadvantaged backgrounds from reaching elite training environments.
Structural Barriers Persist
Joaquim Evangelista, president of the SJPF, opened the camp with a frank acknowledgment: "Portuguese football suffers from a shortage of female players, and deep-seated prejudice about women playing the game persists." He described the initiative as an attempt to level conditions that male players take for granted—consistent coaching, exposure to scouts, and the psychological legitimacy of viewing football as a viable career path.
Parents express fears that the sport will "masculinize" their daughters, and grassroots clubs report high dropout rates among girls aged 12 to 16, a critical window when peer pressure and cultural messaging intersect. The Portugal Football Federation (FPF) counted just 6,000 registered female players in 2011; that figure has since climbed past 20,000, yet the growth remains fragile and concentrated in urban coastal regions, leaving rural areas underserved.
A Veteran-Led Staff
Carla Couto, who accumulated 94 caps for the Portugal national team and played professionally across three decades, serves as both head coach and operational director for the camp. She is joined by Matilde Fidalgo, the union's advisor for women's football, and Filipa Silva, an assistant coach who recently returned to the game after overcoming a serious health crisis. All three are former internationals, and their presence signals a deliberate choice: mentorship rooted in lived experience rather than imported expertise.
Evangelista singled out Silva during the opening ceremony, noting her resilience and the union's commitment to supporting players beyond their active careers. "Regardless of the role the union plays in her life, Filipa knows she always has us," he said, framing the camp as both a development program and a safety net for women navigating an industry still shaped by male norms.
Federation's Broader Investment and Infrastructure Challenges
The FPF has pledged €22 M for the 2025-26 season and €23 M the following year to professionalize the women's league, subsidize travel costs, and train more female coaches. Starting in the 2025-26 season, the top division will shrink to 10 teams, a restructuring intended to concentrate talent and improve match quality.
Yet infrastructure lags significantly. Many Portuguese clubs lack dedicated changing facilities for women, and scheduling conflicts often relegate female matches to early-morning or midweek slots with minimal spectator access. The union's proposal for a collective labor agreement specific to women's football—covering maternity leave, menstrual health accommodations, and harassment protocols—remains under negotiation with league officials. The Iberdrola sponsorship of all senior women's competitions since 2024 represents the largest commercial commitment to date, yet broadcast revenues remain a fraction of those in the men's game.
Scaling the Model
The FPF's strategic plan aims to triple the number of registered female players by 2036, reaching 60,000. That target hinges on expanding youth leagues in underserved regions, recruiting more qualified female coaches, and normalizing women's football in school curriculums. The federation has launched a leadership training program for women in sport and created a fund to incentivize clubs that hire female trainers or medical staff, starting in the 2024-25 season.
Critics note that growth projections assume sustained political and commercial support—a risky bet in a country where women's sport has historically depended on short-term grants rather than structural budget lines. The union's camp operates on a modest budget, relying on voluntary contributions from sponsors and the federation's development fund. Scaling similar initiatives nationwide would require municipal co-funding and private-sector partnerships that have yet to materialize.
The Opening Session
Twenty-one women showed up for the first session on July 13, with the remainder expected to cycle in throughout the month as other commitments allow. The participants ranged from teenagers fresh out of youth academies to veterans in their late twenties attempting comebacks after career interruptions. Some had been released by clubs mid-season; others never secured a contract despite years in the amateur system.
Scouts from clubs in the Liga BPI (the rebranded top division) and second-tier teams attend sessions, and the union maintains a database of participant profiles shared with member clubs. The camp gives participants five weeks to rebuild fitness, refine tactical understanding, and—crucially—demonstrate commitment to scouts who might otherwise overlook them.
Evangelista framed the initiative as an equity measure, not charity: "We want to equip you with tools so you can make a difference in your personal lives and as athletes." The subtext is clear. In an ecosystem where male players benefit from year-round institutional scaffolding, women without contracts often drift out of the sport entirely, their talent unrealized.
Looking Ahead
The camp's modest scale—33 participants, one month, one location—underscores how far Portugal's women's football infrastructure still lags behind its aspirations. If a significant number of participants secure contracts or advance to higher divisions, the union plans to expand the camp into a twice-yearly fixture, potentially adding regional satellites in the north and south.
Whether that vision materializes depends on forces the participants cannot control: club budgets, federation priorities, and the slow erosion of cultural bias. What they can control is their performance during these five weeks in Odivelas—and the hope that this time, someone will be watching.
