CAS orders Lazio Women to compensate Gothberg over pregnancy firing

CAS has ordered Lazio Women 2015 A.R.L. to compensate Maja Göthberg after finding the Rome club unlawfully ended her employment when it learned she was pregnant. The award in CAS 2025/A/11527 also granted salary compensation and moral damages.

Göthberg, a Swedish midfielder, had signed a standard coordinated and continuous collaboration contract covering 1 September 2023 to 30 June 2024. She appeared in 29 of Lazio’s 30 official matches as the club won Serie B in 2023-24 and earned promotion to Serie A Femminile. The case reached arbitration after the season ended.

On 28 May, a Lazio sports secretary assistant sent Göthberg a voice message asking for her agent’s contact details and discussing her future at the club. Göthberg then told Lazio she was pregnant before any renewal had been finalised. CAS found that the player and the club had already agreed on the essential terms of a renewed employment relationship through their communications, even though no new contract had been formally signed.

When the dispute first reached the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber, the chamber dismissed Göthberg’s claim on 24 March 2025. CAS reached the opposite conclusion on 26 May 2026, finding that Lazio had unlawfully disadvantaged her because of her pregnancy and that her pregnancy information had been disclosed without her consent. The panel also said the burden was on Lazio to prove its actions were unrelated to the pregnancy once an employment relationship and termination were established, and found the club had not done so.

FIFA approved changes to its Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players on 15 May 2024, with the new protections taking effect from 1 June 2024. Those rules expanded coverage to maternity, adoption, family leave, breastfeeding, menstrual health and special registration rules for female players.

Göthberg said the dispute was about being treated fairly and with respect, and that pregnancy should never be treated as a reason to deny a player labour opportunities.