. She is deeply concerned by the growing number of incidents of so-called fans abusing players.
“We’re always saying we’re proud in the women’s game that we’re very inclusive but somehow that is starting to slip away a bit,” Miedema says. “If we don’t act really strongly right now then it might be too late.
“As a player and advocate for women’s football, I’ve always been one of the ones shouting that we need to wave our own path in women’s football and we need to be really careful in how we want to grow and develop. Because the easiest thing is to change completely into men’s football. But if we are so proud of the environment we’ve created, we need to be really, really careful in the next steps we’re making.”
Miedema issues that warning in a candid interview at City’s training ground, 48 hours after Liverpool’s Taylor Hinds was subjected to a “inappropriate comment” from a spectator at Arsenal on Sunday, and just over a month after her teammate Khadija “Bunny” Shaw was subjected to racist and misogynistic abuse, which remains under investigation by Greater Manchester police.
Miedema knows that the majority of women’s crowds are “still a lot of lovely, loving football fans” but says: “The situation in the football world is certainly not where we want it to be. I think Bunny prioritising her mental health [and deciding to miss a match] after what happened is probably the strongest thing anyone could have done in that situation, which me personally and the team respect her for massively. What we can do is be there for Bunny and keep voicing that things do need to be better.”
On the pitch, Miedema, the …
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