June 25 – Lazio’s women’s side has been ordered to pay compensation to former player Maja Gothberg after being found to have unlawfully ended her time at the club because she was pregnant. The Court of Arbitration for Sport awarded the 28-year-old Swede over €69,000 after Lazio cut ties following the disclosure of her pregnancy in the summer of 2024. 

Players’ union FIFPro called it groundbreaking, as this is the first time CAS has awarded compensation after finding a club unlawfully ended an employment relationship over pregnancy, and an important precedent on the confidentiality of pregnancy-related medical information. 

Alexandra Gómez Bruinewoud, legal director at FIFPro said: “This case shows that Fifa’s maternity regulations are not just words on paper and that they provide real protections for players. Clubs cannot simply walk away from an employment relationship, even if this is not fully formalised, once they learn a player is pregnant.” 

Göthberg, who initially lost her case at FIFA’s dispute resolution chamber, leading to her taking her case to CAS, said in a statement: “This was never only about football: it was about being treated fairly and with respect at an important moment in my life. The ruling sends a message that pregnancy should never be treated as a problem or a reason to deny a player labour opportunities.” 

Gothberg was a regular in Lazio’s 2023-24 promotion season and had agreed terms for 2024-25, but no final document was signed. After discovering she was pregnant, she informed the club. Lazio argued no contract existed and pointed to her failure to travel to Rome, where she’d suffered nausea and fatigue, and cited talks with rivals, Parma. 

CAS rejected all of it. Citing the agreed terms, two draft contracts, her place in the squad WhatsApp group, and arrangements for her return, the panel found a binding contract existed before the pregnancy was disclosed, and that Lazio failed to prove its decision was unrelated to it. An assistant coach, it found, had told players without her consent. 

The award covered the value of the one-year deal plus interest, with a further sum for breaching her personality rights. 

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