The Professional Footballers’ Association is funding surgery for female footballers because their clubs are not obliged to provide them with private medical insurance.

Telegraph Sport can reveal that the players’ union is helping those players who would otherwise have relied on the NHS or self-financing to cover the cost of operations.

While all 11 clubs in the Football Association Women’s Super League are full-time, ­financial constraints mean the provision of private medical insurance is not required for a side to be given professional status.

It is understood Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham United are among those top-flight clubs who do provide players with private health insurance as standard, but the PFA confirmed it had assisted with financing operations for players at other clubs.

A PFA spokesperson said: “We would like to see full provision of private medical included in the women’s contracts for the professional players, the same as their male counterparts. We recognise that financial constraints make that more difficult in the women’s game, but we do feel it should be a prerequisite for clubs to have professional status.

“We’ve had multiple inquiries for assistance, and have helped players in a manner of different ways. We use residential rehabilitation for PFA members at St George’s Park and we have assisted with the funding of operations for players who haven’t been able to get it through the club.

Manchester City are among the clubs that do provide cover credit: Getty images

A copy of the 2017 WSL standard contract, seen by The Daily Telegraph, reads: “Players are reminded that they may need to take out their own insurance policy to protect their income and cover medical ­expenses in the event of injury.”

It adds: “For the avoidance of doubt, the obligation to provide ­assistance … does not extend to the provision by the club of private medical care, unless the parties agree otherwise.” This also applies to contracts for the second-tier Women’s Championship, but not the England central contracts.

In talks with the FA in 2017, the PFA advised that the WSL adopt the financial and medical protections of the men’s Premier League and ­Football League playing contracts.

It is understood the FA was ­unwilling to force clubs to do so because of concerns about financial sustainability. The Telegraph understands one club was quoted in excess of £40,000 to cover the squad for a season.

For some knee injuries, treatment costs “can run into £6,000 to £10,000”, according to specialist sports knee surgeon Pete Gallacher.

Gallacher, who has treated both male and female footballers, said: “Most but not all of the Women’s Super League clubs have got health insurance – then the [clubs in the] Championship, don’t have anything at all.

“The only options available to players if they don’t have health ­insurance, either personally or through the clubs, is to deal with everything through the NHS or to self-fund.

View more!

“If they’ve got an injury such as a cruciate injury, that can run to £6,000 to £10,000 for treatment, depending on where they are in the country. For most places, you’re looking at around a three-month wait on the NHS. They can be waiting months before they’re actually seen by a specialist or have any ­definitive treatment.

“In the men’s game, you find people are insured all the way down to the bottom league levels, just as a matter of course. Even some of the semi-pro clubs have health insurance for their players.

“I know of cases of people Crowdfunding in the women’s game to try to raise cash for treatment. It’s not the way it should be.”

In October, Championship club London Bees set up a Crowdfunding page to raise the £16,000 needed to cover the medical costs for three players – all under the age of 25 – requiring reconstructive knee surgery.

The standard WSL contract also stipulates that clubs are obliged to pay female players injury pay only for the first six months of an injury absence. It is at the club’s discretion if they choose to pay long-term ­absentees thereafter, but the men’s Premier League standard contract ensures players will be paid “his basic wage over the first 18 months and one half of his basic wage for the remainder of his period of ­incapacity”.

An FA spokesperson said: “The Women’s Football Contract was developed in consultation between the FA, the clubs and the PFA to shape a player contract that the women’s football pyramid could financially sustain and one that reflects the recently emerging status of women’s professional football in England.”