THE SOCIAL CONTEXT AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN’S FOOTBALL IN ROMANIA

Abstract

In Romania, women’s football has not enjoyed a development that could ensure this sport a high level of competitiveness. During the communist period, women’s football existed rather at an amateur level, and while the Golden Generation of Romanian men’s football was getting results at international competitions in the 1990s, women’s football was barely starting to be formalised. The purpose of this study is to analyse the perception of female football players on different aspects of their professional life. The sample consisted of 126 women with ages between 12 and 34 years (with a mean age of 18), who completed an online questionnaire with 24 items. The statistical analysis was both quantitative (SPSS) and qualitative (NVivo). Respondents were asked to rate various aspects that interfered with the sports profession (family, society, opportunities, football career) and, although 30% already had a job in sports-related fields, some of them still wanted to focus on other areas of activity. Also, the identification of players with this type of sport shows the highest agreement, with an average of 4.59, and the opportunities for women in this field are considered better than ever, with an average score of 3.56, both items in range 1 to 5. The results emphasise that Romanian women’s football has experienced a significant increase during the last years, but the main problem identified in this sports sector remains the inequality in terms of media coverage and finance as compared to men’s sport.