Development in women’s futsal: is high-performance futsal fostering equity or simply reinforcing a gendered culture?

The need to create equitable opportunities for women to engage in sport has been widely acknowledged. However, there is a scarcity of studies that explore the experience of both female athletes and coaches involved in elite women’s futsal. To enhance understanding of issues related to equity in women’s sport experiences, the present study sought to explore Portuguese coaches and female athletes’ perspectives on the status quo in women’s futsal. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six coaches and six female athletes involved in elite women’s futsal. Findings revealed a perceived lack of support from decision makers towards equity promotion, which led to few affordances being provided for female athletes to thrive. Coaches and female athletes tended to accept the current conventions as the only viable solution to continue to engage in high-performance futsal. Thus, the current system was perceived to reinforce a gendered culture by oppressing and discriminating female athletes. This study reinforces the need for greater awareness and literacy on what should be accepted and tolerated concerning women’s rights in elite sport in order to create more just and equitable environments across socio-cultural contexts.