A landmark ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has determined that Italian women’s soccer club Lazio Women acted unlawfully when it severed ties with Swedish defender Maja Gothberg after learning she was pregnant — a decision that player advocates and legal experts are calling a turning point for women’s football.
Earlier this month, CAS found that Lazio Women had improperly ended the employment relationship with Gothberg and ordered the club to pay her compensation, according to the global players’ union FIFPRO. The court also found that information about Gothberg’s pregnancy had been shared without her knowledge or permission, setting a new precedent around the confidentiality of pregnancy-related medical information. Reuters reached out to Lazio for a response.
The situation traces back to the summer of 2024, when Gothberg was part of the Lazio squad that earned promotion to Italy’s top women’s soccer division. While a new contract had not yet been formally signed, CAS determined that the two parties had effectively reached an agreement on the key terms of a continued working relationship based on their communications with each other.
Gothberg told the club she was expecting a child before the deal was officially completed, and the relationship quickly deteriorated after that disclosure. Lazio’s position was that no binding contract had ever been established, while Gothberg argued the club pulled back specifically because of her pregnancy.
The matter went to CAS after Gothberg initially lost her case before FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber. CAS ultimately sided with Gothberg, concluding that Lazio had unfairly penalized her because of her pregnancy and awarding her both salary compensation and moral damages.
“This case was never only about football: it was about being treated fairly and with respect at an important moment in my life,” Gothberg said in a statement released Wednesday.
“The ruling sends a message that pregnancy should never be treated as a problem or a reason to deny a player labour opportunities,” she added.
This marks the first time CAS has ever ruled that a soccer club unlawfully ended an employment arrangement due to a player’s pregnancy. It also represents one of the most significant challenges yet to FIFA’s maternity rules, which were updated and strengthened in 2024.
In its decision, CAS placed the responsibility on the club to demonstrate that its actions had nothing to do with Gothberg’s pregnancy, once the existence of the employment relationship and its termination were established. According to FIFPRO, the court found that Lazio was unable to meet that burden.
The panel also ruled that a player’s pregnancy qualifies as sensitive medical data and must be treated with appropriate confidentiality protections. CAS found that Gothberg’s pregnancy was disclosed without her consent following her notification to the club, and awarded additional compensation for that violation.
“This case shows that FIFA’s Maternity Regulations are not just words on paper and that they provide real protections for players,” said FIFPRO legal director Alexandra Gomez Bruinewoud in a statement.
“The significance of this ruling goes beyond Maja Gothberg and confirms clubs cannot simply walk away from an employment relationship, even if this is not fully formalised, once they learn a player is pregnant,” she continued.
The Gothberg case comes several years after a high-profile maternity dispute involving Iceland international Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir and Olympique Lyonnais in 2022, which established that players are entitled to contract and salary protections while pregnant. The new ruling builds on that precedent by confirming clubs cannot sidestep maternity obligations by simply refusing to continue an employment relationship after learning of a pregnancy, FIFPRO noted.
WhatsApp messages exchanged between Gothberg and the club were central to establishing both that an employment relationship existed and that the club was aware of her pregnancy, according to FIFPRO — highlighting the growing role that digital communications play in soccer contract disputes.
Gothberg received support throughout the case from the Swedish player union Spelarforeningen.
