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England manager Sarina Wiegman feels 'equally treated' by FA, says Emma Hayes reported USA move 'good for women's game'
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Published 08/11/2023 at 17:23 GMT
England manager Sarina Wiegman has praised the FA for treating her "equally". She made the comments after it was reported that Chelsea boss Emma Hayes would be departing the club to become head coach of the US women's national team, and could be paid the same as the men's national team manager. Both Wiegman and Hayes are considered amongst the most talented female coaches in football.
'Very exciting' - Wiegman on leading Team GB at 2024 Paris Olympics
Video credit: SNTV
England manager Sarina Wiegman has said it feels "so good" to be "equally treated" by the English Football Association.
Wiegman appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss her new book, 'What It Takes: My Playbook on Life and Leadership' which charts her meteoric rise to becoming one of the most successful managers in international football.
She was asked about the shock departure of Emma Hayes from Chelsea after a successful 11-year stint as the women’s team manager.
It has been widely reported that Hayes will become the new head coach of the US women’s national team, and that she will receive the same salary as the US men’s national team manager, Gregg Berhalter.
It would be expected that this would make her the highest-paid women's manager in the world.
"For the bigger picture of the women's game, I think it’s good," Wiegman said.
"What you hope is that with her [Hayes] visibility, and with more coaches that are visible, we get more female coaches that can do a great job.
"Whatever level you coach, we need more women in football. The environment we work in is the highest level – you hope more good female coaches get into this job. So yes, it will be sad for England and for Chelsea, but it's also good for the women's game in general."
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Emma Hayes, Manager of Chelsea, celebrates victory following the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final 2nd leg match between Chelsea FC and Olympique Lyonnais at Stamford Bridge on March 30, 2023 in London, England.
Image credit: Getty Images
Wiegman is reported to be on a ÂŁ400,000 annual salary with the FA, but made it clear it is not just money that matters when it comes to gender equality in football.
"I can just talk about my situation," she said. "Since I've come in to work for the FA, I've been treated equally. And it's not only about money.
"It's about the facilities, it’s about the full-time staff with good quality, and it's about all the opportunities we get to perform at our highest level. I feel equally treated, and that feels really good."
Wiegman has reached four major tournament finals in a row, winning the 2017 European Championship with the Netherlands before taking the side to the 2019 Women’s World Cup final, where they lost to the United States.
She then left her home country to take up the role of England manager, triumphing at Euro 2022 before suffering defeat in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, this time to Spain.
The Lionesses have struggled to find their form as they look to book a place for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic women’s football tournament, losing to the Netherlands and Belgium in the UEFA Women's Nations League.
Wiegman appeared confident they could still qualify for Paris 2024, however, even though the Lionesses are now reliant on other results going their way.
"The next two games, we have to win and then wait to see what happens," she explained. "We always want to win, we always approach a game to win. But what I do see, in the last camp, it was really good. The things we were doing together were really good.
"Against Belgium, we lost 3-2, which is disappointing, and we should have done a couple of things better. But what we were trying to do and how many chances we created – if you look at the data, it's just basically unbelievable we didn't win that game. So I'm not concerned."
England play Netherlands and Scotland in their last two Nations League fixtures at the start of December.
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