US$30m prize fund on offer in France dwarfed by US$400m at last men’s tournament. Getty Images Fifa, world soccer’s governing body, is set to negotiate increased prize money for women’s national soccer teams following the 2019 Women’s World Cup. The news comes after a campaign from Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), the soccer players union in the country, calling on Fifa to offer the same amount of prize money for teams at the Women’s World Cup as it does in the men’s tournament. PFA’s campaign has received support from FifPro, the international representative body for professional players of the game, who said they expect Fifa to begin fresh negotiations to close the gender pay gap between men and women’s soccer. In a statement on its official website, FifPro said: ‘Fifa has agreed to our request to start negotiating new conditions for women’s national team players after the 2019 Women’s World Cup, and we are determined to making real and lasting progress on behalf of them [Australia women’s soccer team].’ This year’s Women’s World Cup, which kicks off in France on 7th June, has a prize fund of US$30 million, with the winners earning US$4 million. This is double the amount from the 2015 tournament. However, it is still in stark contrast to the US$400 million on offer at the 2018 men’s World Cup in Russia, which saw winners France receive US$38 million alone. The prize money on offer is further increasing to US$440 million for the 2022 tournament in Qatar. With the current financial offerings, it would mean if the Australia women’s team won this year’s tournament, they would get half of what the Socceroos were paid at Russia 2018, where they were eliminated at the group stage. In a letter to Fifa, PFA has asked that the prize money for France 2019 to be nearly doubled as a short-term solution, saying: ‘We suggest that, at a minimum, the Fifa council take the opportunity to increase the prize money to be awarded to the participating teams by US$27 million to a total of US$57 million. This will at least address the exacerbation of Fifa’s discriminatory conduct. ‘We can then meet in good faith after the tournament to discuss how to fully realise Fifa’s statutory, regulatory and policy commitments to non-discrimination and the fulfilment of the internationally recognised human rights of the players.’ The letter also points to Fifa’s reported financial reserves of US$2.75 billion meaning financial constraints shouldn’t be an issue for the governing body. Though it is yet unclear if Fifa will bow to the wishes of PFA and establish financial parity, the global governing body’s newly re-elected president, Gianni Infantino, said the Women’s World Cup had not been commercialised to its fullest extent and it should be generating more revenue. It is the latest issue of pay in women’s football to surface ahead of the Women’s World Cup. Norway’s Ada Hegerberg, considered the world’s best player, will not play at the tournament due to her boycotting the tournament over pay and conditions. Meanwhile, the US team, three-time winners of the competition, filed a gender discrimination lawsuit in March against their own federation.
FIFA will look to address the gender pay gap for women's national football teams after this year's Women's World Cup in France, following a call by Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) to give women’s World Cup teams the same prize money that it gives the men's competition. The PFA's campaign has been backed by FifPro, the international professional players' body. The PFA has suggested that FIFA double the prize money of France 2019 as a short-term fix with full negotiations to be held after the tournament has finished.