Revolution in amateur football: Women can now play in men's teams

Created: 07/06/2022Updated: 07/06/2022 16:37

By: Henrik Ahrend

In Bavaria, women will also be allowed to play in men's teams from the coming season.

© Kai Schaubeck (www.fupa.net/oberbayern)

The Bavarian Football Association is breaking new ground in the amateur field.

From the coming season, women can also play in men's teams.

Munich - This is a revolution.

As the Bavarian Football Association (BFV) has announced, women who have reached the age of 18 can now also play in the men's division.

However, hurdles have to be overcome beforehand.

Clubs must first submit a written application to the Association Women's and Girls' Committee.

The regulation also only applies to amateur football throughout Bavaria.

"At the moment there is no application in Bavaria, so we are not talking about a mass phenomenon here, but simply the opportunity to enable women to do something that has not been possible up to now."

BFV spokesman Florian Frühwirth.

The big question for everyone: Do women even want to play actively in the men's area?

For many female players it could be a whole new experience and challenge to compete with the men in the men's area.

As BFV spokesman Fabian Frühtwirth confirmed when asked by Fußball Vorort/FuPa Oberbayern, no applications for playing entitlements had been received by the association by Wednesday afternoon.

The 46-year-old is personally not sure whether there will be any applications at all.

Frühwirth emphasizes that this simply contemporary opportunity was fundamentally created at the Association Day.

Now it is a matter of defining the appropriate framework conditions in the various committees and shaping the details: “Yes, in our opinion it is an important and simply contemporary decision that the delegates made.

It is just as important that this is now being discussed.

We should focus on the facts.

It is possible to submit an application.

At the moment there is no application in Bavaria, so we are not talking about a mass phenomenon here, but simply the opportunity to enable women to do something that has not been possible up to now.

Access to football must be easy - that also applies to women who want to play for the men."

BFV believes leagues with mixed teams of women and men are possible in the future

One perspective in the coming years could also be mixed leagues: "Perhaps in the future we will see our own league with teams that are only made up of mixed teams with women and men," says Frühwirth.

The burden on individual players who are still playing in their women's team at the same time could be problematic.

Whether and how the new idea will prevail is ultimately up to the clubs and players to decide.

In Lower Bavaria there are already first voices to the new idea of ​​the BFV.

Many clubs were completely surprised by the regulation.

In addition, some clubs express skepticism as to whether and how this model can be successfully implemented.

(Henrik Ahrend)