“We are in an environment that excludes us daily and despises us. A large part of society believes that women are not capable of playing football and that we should not exercise our right to practise it.”

Macarena Sánchez has had enough. The 27-year-old, who has a tattoo of the revolutionary Mexican Frida Kahlo emblazoned on her arm, is taking legal action against her club, UAI Urquiza, and the Argentinian Football Federation for not recognising her as a professional player.

“I really like her struggle, at a time in history where society was much harder than now,” Sánchez says of Kahlo. “Where the woman could not even raise her voice, she knew how to put her art and her ideals first and gain a place in a macho environment. She had many setbacks in her life but was still able to get ahead.”

In 2012 Sánchez moved to Buenos Aires to join UAI Urquiza. One of the best women’s teams in the country, her club beat teams such as River Plate and Boca Juniors to the Argentinian women’s league title last season, securing qualification to the Copa Libertadores in the process.

In contrast the men’s team sit in the third tier of the Argentinian pyramid. “It’s very frustrating,” says Sánchez. “They have better salaries, better conditions and can live by being footballers. We, unfortunately, can’t. We have better results, more championships and we have even played international tournaments but we are seen as inferior just for being women.”

For Sánchez, who received 400 Argentinian pesos per month (£8.25) for travel, the conditions at UAI were “not the best but neither were they the worst”. She adds: “The treatment towards us was often indifferent and disinterested. The facilities were not the best, many times we trained in terrible conditions or we did not have the necessary materials to develop professionally.

“In comparison with other clubs, UAI was one of the best. Many clubs charge players a monthly fee to play. Other clubs do not cover their basic needs to be able to train and play the games, and the players had to pay for them: training clothes, materials, food, ambulance, police, doctor [the last three are mandatory to play the games and must be covered by clubs]. Many clubs do not cover injuries or treatment for players so that they can recover.”

Macarena Sánchez, who was let go by UAI Urquiza midway through the season, says: ‘I think clubs do not want us to be recognised as professionals because it bothers them a woman can occupy places that have been historically occupied by men.’ Photograph: Handout

Her action, she says, is about levelling the playing field. “Argentina’s women’s league is precarious. Although soccer in Argentina is the most popular sport, women are not taken as professionals.

“The clubs and the Argentinian Football Federation do not recognise us as workers and deny us basic rights such as a salary, something that men do receive for playing football, and other basic things and tools that any high performance athlete needs: places to train, shoes, medical coverage and clothing, to name a few.”

In Argentina women’s rights are “constantly violated,” says Sánchez, “in the workplace and in all areas of women’s lives. Our society continues to be retrograde, misogynistic and macho. Women in this country suffer from gender discrimination and all kinds of violence.

“I think clubs do not want us to be recognised as professionals because it bothers them that a woman can occupy places that have been historically occupied by men. The macho thinking of the people who have power is the only thing that prevents the professionalisation.”

Told by the club that they no longer require her playing services halfway through the season, leaving her unable to join a new side as signings can be completed only at the end of the campaign, Sánchez is speaking out now as she no longer fears jeopardising her career.

“We need to stop suffering this type of daily abuse by the clubs and the AFA. It is important that we are recognised as sports workers, because that is what we are.

“We need to have medical coverage, we need a legal safeguard that protects us, we need to be part of the union of working footballers of Argentina (Futbolistas Argentinos Agremiados). We need that our rights stop being violated. And it’s important because we want to live from football, we want to play football and be able to enjoy it.”

The support she has received has surprised her: “I received a lot of support from the players, from many teams from all over the country, from the feminist movement and from many groups of working women. Also ex-football players, artists and politicians. It was very moving because in these cases it is very important to feel accompanied. It is not easy for a woman to claim her rights in front of ‘man entities’ and with a lot of power. That is why it is essential to know and feel that I am not alone.”

Sánchez is seeking compensation for her seven years at the club. But this is not about money. “The biggest compensation for me would be to get my claim heard and for women to be recognised as professional footballers. In the case of having an economic compensation, surely I will give part of that money for the development of women’s football in Argentina.

“In this case I hope to be recognised as a professional player, to fulfil my rights as a sports worker and that all of these struggles essentially help other soccer players. I hope that all of us are recognised as professionals and that no other player has to go through situations of discrimination in football.”