At the 2017 European Championship, Steffi Jones was still the national coach of the German women's national soccer team.

At that time the end came in the quarterfinals.

She was released in March 2018.

Under Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, who succeeded Horst Hrubesch on an interim basis.

the DFB team lost the final of the European Championship against England 1:2 after extra time on Sunday.

Earlier, Steffi Jones spoke to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung about the state of women's football.

Anna Schiller

volunteer.

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Ms. Jones, more people have not watched women's football in a long time.

Are some just realizing what they've been missing out on over the years?

We haven't been this successful since 2016.

The unexpected success has now generated attention.

The Germans weren't initially seen as favourites, but they felt comfortable in the role.

The team has won people's hearts again.

There's no point in looking back and pointing the finger at others, now it's time to look ahead.

And how is it going to be in the future?

It's not something you should plan out of cold pants during a tournament.

Management is now basking in the team's success.

I wish that the DFB had made plans for the time after the tournament even before the tournament.

Success with the women's national team is one of the strategic goals for 2027. (Editor's note: At the end of 2021, the DFB gave itself the "Strategy Women in Football FF27". It provides, among other things, for the national team to win international titles by 2027 and the number of active players increased by 25 percent.) The sporting success is here now – then please show us what the next steps are.

What do you think the next steps should be?

As an entrepreneur, I would think holistically.

It is not enough to just mention key words, such as equal pay or a minimum salary for all players.

Especially since equal pay falls under social responsibility for me.

If someone is in charge of a specific area of ​​responsibility, then that person has his or her price.

Professional competence is unisex and deserves equal pay – it’s as simple as that. Salary adjustments in the leagues are certainly measures and investments that can be derived from the strategic goals – women in football – for 2027.

You're in the United States right now, commenting on the European Championship for American television.

A collective agreement there has stipulated since May that players receive equal salaries.

Can the American League be a role model for us?

American women's football is also 50 years young and was in a similar situation to ours.

In 1972, Title IX was introduced, guaranteeing equal opportunities in educational and sports programs.

Since then, men and women have the same general conditions.

A recent milestone for the American women's national team: equal pay.

FIFA's payouts in the US are pooled and split 50/50 between the women's and men's divisions.

Which, in my opinion, is not possible because the framework conditions are completely different.

But same game bonuses are possible.

If more is to be achieved in women's football, then an investment package is needed that is based on the goals of the DFB for 2027 and guarantees equal opportunities.

Because the fact is