Poignant images have surfaced of the U20 women’s football team of DR Congo. It shows how the football players spend the night on the street the day before their World Cup qualifier match. At FIFPRO, the international players’ union, they react indignantly. “You’re starting to wonder where FIFA’s money for the promotion of women’s football goes?”
Jonas Baer-Hoffman himself, the general secretary of the players’ union FIFPRO, shared the images. The video shows that the Congolese U20 women’s football team was forced to sleep on the street the night before their World Cup qualifier in and against Cameroon. According to the German, the selection had been kicked out of the hotel because the Congolese football association had not paid the bill.
“You’re starting to wonder where the FIFA money for the promotion of women’s football goes?”, writes Baer-Hoffman with the images.
Van
Other images show that the players also trained in appalling conditions. No training field or even grass, but in the mud in a place that also seems to be a street. A van passes in the middle of an exercise.
Hérita Ilunga, 32-time international and ex-footballer at Saint-Étienne West Ham, among others, already appealed to the Congolese football association. “A little more respect for our ambassadors please!”
The Congolese ladies went down 5-0 a day later. Due to the defeat, participation in the 2022 World Cup in Costa Rica is no longer possible.
