Why Barca star Oshoala and Ballon d’Or winner Bonmati cannot give shirt to fans

Barcelona Femini stars Assist Oshoala and her colleagues like Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati cannot give fans their shirts because they don’t have extras.

On Saturday, Barcelona Femeni beat Levante Las Planas 9-1, with Ballon d’Or winner and FIFA Best Player of the Year Bonmati at the heart of matters as usual. She scored their third just before the 30-minute mark, as they rolled to their 13th straight league victory of the season.

After the match, Bonmati stayed for at least five minutes after the game attending to photos, signatures, and all sorts of requests. However, she offered her apologies that she could not give any of the fans the delight of her shirt. The reason being, as per Relevo, is that Femeni players only get two per season.

That is the case for all but four Liga F teams, apart from Madrid CFF, Sporting de Huelva, Levante Las Planas, and Costa Adeje Tenerife, who give their players one shirt.

For Barcelona, this contrasts greatly with the men’s team, who are given two per match. In La Liga, Real Madrid follows the same system, as do Rayo Vallecano and Alaves. The players of the last two have a 20% discount on a third, while Real Sociedad and Athletic Club players also have a club discount from the third shirt onwards. Atletico Madrid players are given four shirts per game, the most of any side in La Liga.

At Getafe, players must pay for all of the extra shirts they use, and Las Palmas are the same, although players are given 6-7 at the end of the season. Real Mallorca gives their players 20 per season but must pay for more if they want them.

Granada gives their players 15-20 per season, Sevilla 20 per season, and Almeria 19. Real Betis give their players one per game, Cadiz are the same but give their players three shirts should they win – something which has only happened twice in La Liga this season. Girona players get one free per game, after which they must pay, as is the case for Villarreal. Osasuna gives their players three per game but takes off the number of shirts used from their pay cheque at the end of the season.

Celta Vigo does not have an agreement with their players but usually gets one free per match, and those thereafter are paid at factory price, and Valencia gets one free per call-up, plus a 20% discount after the match.