Spanish joint-proposal seeks to revamp Quiniela coupons with a female touch

Spain’s Professional Footballers Association (AFE) is working with centre-right political party ‘Ciudadanos’ (Citizens) to revamp Spanish football’s  ‘Quiniela’ (pools) by enhancing coupons featuring women’s football matches.

The collaboration aims to present Congress with a draft proposal which will introduce Liga Futbol Femenino (LFF) ‘Primera Iberdrola’ matches, Spain’s top tier of women’s’ professional football, to Quiniela matchday coupons.

The joint proposal would represent the most significant change to the Quiniela’s matchday format since its inception in 1946, in which to date matchday coupons have only listed matches for Spain’s La Liga and Segunda division matches.

The leadership of Ciudadanos will require support of its proposal from the PSOE-Podemos coalition government, having seen its congressional representation dwindle to 10-seats following a turbulent 2019, in which Spain hosted two consecutive General Elections.

Cross-party support will be further needed to change the Quiniela’s format, as the pools product is operated by Spain’s federal lotteries agency reporting to the Ministry of Finance.

Meanwhile, the AFE details that it has begun discussions with LFF governance to pursue a collective agreement which will compensate all female football stakeholders.

AFE and Ciudadanos maintain that funds raised by a new Quiniela would be distributed to Spain’s individual provinces, raising money for women’s football at a formative level.

“This initiative aims at the growth of women’s football in Spain, which is currently in full negotiations to address a collective agreement and professionalize it,” the AFE detailed in a statement.