According to Deutsche Welle, Huurman is only the third woman ever to work as a doctor for a team at a World Cup. Besides her, only Dr. Silja Schwarz serves as a doctor (not chief) for the German men’s national team. Huurman looks after Curaçao, the underdog that faces Germany in the group stage.
The medic reports significant hurdles: “They say: ‘No, you can’t work here because you’re a woman and we don’t want a woman in a men’s team.’ I’ve heard that a million times,” Huurman told DW. She started her career at Dutch club Go Ahead Eagles Deventer, has led medical departments in professional sports since 2015, and worked for several years at Real Madrid. She says she was often turned away, especially at leadership levels of large organizations.
Huurman hopes for more female doctors at future tournaments: “I hope there will be many more female doctors next time. The world is changing, but football is really male-dominated.” In March this year, FIFA adopted a new rule requiring women’s teams at tournaments to have at least two female staff members, one of whom must be the head coach or assistant coach. There is no similar rule for men’s teams.
Source: www.dw.com
