Athena Papafyriou: I know that when I decide to be a mother, I will have zero income and insurance

“I sign every year in my contract, since I am 18 years old, that once I get pregnant, the contract is automatically cancelled,” Athena said. Papafyriou, the 35-year-old international volleyball athlete, who plays with Panathinaikos’ jersey at the Volley League Championships, spoke at the Best Not Done and Spyros Raphael Keramida for the double effort a woman needs to establish in the space and financial rewards she loses when becoming a mother. “I sign every year on my contract, since I was 18 years old as a professional athlete, that once I get pregnant the contract is automatically cancelled,” Athena noted. Papafiriou, at a recent conference on women’s sport, to supplement the following on Alpha’s show. “At this moment, let’s say I’m 35 years old, I, like many athletes, who fight at the highest level and we are living from it, every year we really have to choose whether to be professional athletes or mothers. I mean, I know that, once I decide, I’m going to have zero income, zero insurance, zero stamps, so this is completely deterrent.” “Although we know that we will need twice the time, twice or triple effort, this does not scare us and we are willing to do so. But it certainly causes us insecurity, loneliness and a sense of asphyxiation about what the next day will be like when we have zero in everything. While too many women have proved that they can combine motherhood and return to the highest levels after pregnancy, we are still alone.” “Motherhood is the second nature of women so, if we want to talk about equality in sport and if we want to be a state that promotes equality and justice in sport, we should understand what female nature means. Not just to try to integrate women professional athletes into the existing framework, which was created on the basis of male needs,” Athena Papafifiou explained in the entertainment show of Natalia Germanou on Alpha.