Taz: Tessel Middag, you are active as a professional football player in a football organization without fossils who wants to expel sponsors of fossils from football. Adidas, Booking.com and Amazon as sponsors of the European Championship: how environmentally friend is this?
Tessel Middag: For Adidas as a sports brand, it makes sense to sponsor the tournament. In a sense, it also makes sense for Booking.com as a hotel platform. We, as organizations, have problems with oil and gas companies because they have nothing to do with football. They are as harmful as tobacco companies, and use football to improve their bad image. Just like tobacco advertising, it should be prohibited. Football leaders in FIFA and UEFA hang us. Of course, all the companies that you mentioned also have the best record from the point of view of human rights or stability. Ideally, we want sponsors that are fully consistent with the values of women’s football, but I’m not sure that this is already financially. We are all part of the system, companies must change with consumers.
Taz: But is it not a little naive to clearly distinguish between oil and gas sponsors and other sponsors? The textile industry causes higher emissions than the sponsor of the fossil.
Middag: Maybe we are mistaken. The clothing industry is really bad: a landfill and working conditions, the amount of clothing that is thrown away. I had to form a lot on such topics and still do it. I had a contract with Nike. Then I learned more about working conditions there, as well as that the skin of a kangaroo was used for my shoes. Now I wear vegan shoes from Sokito. But when I play for the club, I can’t say in clothes. It is also difficult to make the right decisions if there are often no alternatives. These oil and gas companies, on the other hand, concern sports water more. I feel that I am used to washing the mode or product that has nothing to do with our sports. Maybe this is a small difference.
In an interview: Tessel Middag
32, Dutch midfielder. Until recently, she played for the rangers of Glasgow. Now she goes to New Zealand Wellington Fenix FC. As a national player, she played 44 games
TAZ: Women’s football has long been in a dark existence. Many players are satisfied with every growth and large number of sponsors.
Middag: There is a danger. I do not agree with how male football is controlled, and I personally do not want to earn what Cristiano Ronaldo deserves in Saudi Arabia now. For equal payment, we are not allowed to deliver each sponsor on board that offers us money. And we must ask sports brands not to release four different shirts every season. There are also really good club initiatives that have been repeatedly used by Jersey since the previous year.
TAZ: growing female football and stability together? If you want more income, you will tell you: sell more knitted products.
Middag: It is not only about taking more money. But on the question: how can we distribute income in such a way that more people are beneficial from it? A lot of money on football is spent incorrectly. Football players should not earn as much money as some stars of men, especially because I do not think that football is as relevant as in educational or healthcare. I hope that women can completely work as football specialists 40 hours a week, at least with a minimum wage. We want to make football inclusive, precisely because we were excluded for so long.
TAZ: You played the top clubs, such as Ajax Amsterdam and Manchester City and played 44 caps for the Netherlands. What do you experience in cabins, is a climatic disaster for players?
Middag: Information about this, as a rule, is higher in women’s football than in men’s football. But I must honestly say that not all my teammates are interested in this topic or share my opinion.
TAZ: Nevertheless, more than a hundred professional players wrote a protest letter to FIFA against sponsorship by the Saudi Aramco oil company, including them. They protest for stability, human rights and women. Time of time?
Middag: I gave me the courage that so much was signed. We, football players, showed that we do not care about things. But I am very disappointed with leadership. Gianni Infantino did not even answer us.
TAZ: I also found wonderful, as few star players were signed. Was there a fear of consequences?
Middag: Yes, not only in economic terms. I talked with many players. Some of them wanted to save the option open to switch to the Saudi League. I also received an offer from there. The amount that I could earn is crazy, 30,000 euros per month, after that you can relax. At the moment, I earn a little higher than the minimum wage in the Scottish league. Another reason was that they were afraid for their personal security if the women’s tournament was organized in Saudi Arabia. What if you block me? And many clubs or national teams are already intertwined with Saudi Arabia. The men’s team in the player’s club played the Italian Supercopa in Saudi Arabia. She was not allowed to interview until the trophy was played. And in women’s football, contracts have been signed one or two years. If you are too annoying, you lose your work.
TAZ: Is this one of the reasons why players are more likely to restrain the theme of the climatic crisis?
Middag: Yes, I think so. And they are probably afraid that they are called a hypocrite, because they fly a lot, which also takes place with me. I am moving to New Zealand in September. This is bad for my ecological trace. We are all intertwined into the system. But I still have the right to say my opinion.
TAZ: Why are men so silent than women?
Middag: From the special story of women’s football. Just because of the fact that we, like women in the still very masculine world, are much more sensitive to injustice. We still live in Patriarchate, the right extremist policy is on the rise. Some men who themselves do not experience all this do not even realize what is happening around them. I always wanted to study on the side, because I knew that I could not completely put a football career. When I am going to a football pension, I have to start working immediately. The players always had to form.
Taz: Shortly before the tournament in Switzerland, a natural disaster occurred in which the glacier spilled a whole village. Currently, we have a huge heat in Europe. Nevertheless, the climatic crisis almost does not play a role in media reports about the tournament. Why?
Middag: This is true, and there are many more examples. At the World Club World Cup, six games should have been canceled or postponed from extreme weather conditions. Last year, in Copa América, the referee lost consciousness for heat. The number of spectators at the Club World Cup is low, because people do not want to sit in the sun. I don’t know why this is not busy at the European Championship. Perhaps people have their own noses full of world politics. Many do not want to think about football politics and just enjoy.
TAZ: UEFA introduced a strategy for the sustainable development of the tournament, among other things, fans with tickets can use public transport during matches for free. How stable is the euro?
Middag: This is a great initiative and what we must save. Fortunately, Switzerland is a country in which this is possible. This is quite well cut off. We need more regional tournaments, not Canada, the USA and Mexico, of course, you need to fly a lot.
Taz: How, as a professional, did you actually come up with the idea of attracting a climatic crisis?
Middag: I just noticed what was happening around me, read many books and articles. Greta Tunberg also did an excellent job, we can all be grateful to her for putting this topic on a global agenda. I was always politicized, but it took me some time to see how football can help solve big problems. In 2016, I became a member of the common goal …
Taz: … the initiative in which professionals and clubs donate one percent of their income for charitable purposes.
Middag: The general goal and football for the future gave me seminars, like Frank Huizing from football without fossils. It becomes more and more clear to me how great football emissions are. And at the same time, we have such a large audience. Some people listen to people, it’s absurd. It would be better if you listened to science than me. But if you listen to me, I do what I can.
