The Women’s World Cup will receive $150 million in prize money, a 300% increase from 2019, but the men’s will receive just a third of the $440 million they received in Qatar 2022.
While the $150 million prize pool for the first 32-team tournament is up from $30 million for the 24-team 2019 edition and a 10-fold increase from 2015, it is well below the total prize pool of $440 million. 32 teams were awarded at the Men’s World Cup last year in Qatar.
FIFA has said it aims to equalize the men’s and women’s tournaments by 2027.
Some of that prize money should be used to pay players, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday after being re-elected unopposed until 2027.
According to ESPN sources, the actual breakdown is $110 million in prize money, followed by $31 million in preparation funds and $11 million in club benefits.
Infantino also again blamed the disparity in broadcasters for underbidding for TV rights. He said FIFA would not sell the broadcast rights for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand at the price currently being offered.
“Women deserve more and we are ready to fight for them and with them,” she said.
Female players around the world have fought for equal pay and equal respect with men’s national teams, including the US, Canada, France and Spain.
Infantino has set a goal of equal prize money for men and women at the next World Cups in 2026 and 2027, respectively — a tall order when the 32 men’s teams split $440 million at last year’s World Cup in Qatar.
FIFA’s president took aim at broadcasters, some of them taxpayer-funded public broadcasters, saying they were offering up to 100 times less for the rights to the women’s tournament.
Infantino first raised the issue in New Zealand in October, where he insisted FIFA was still not selling women’s football at prices that attract audiences 20-50% lower than men’s games.
“Okay, offer us 20% less, 50% less. But not 100% less,” Infantino said in his closing speech at the FIFA Congress. “That’s why we can’t do it.
“For the first time, me [plan to] dedicate a certain part of this payment, which should be used mainly for the development of football, but a certain part of it should certainly go to the players,” Infantino said in announcing step 2 of his three-step plan.
According to Infantino, Step 1 will be equal conditions and services for all men and women playing in the World Cup.
“This will already be true for the 2023 Cup, the same conditions as the ’22 World Cup will be for the players and coaching staff at the ’23 Women’s World Cup.”
Step 3, she says, is the most complex and involves a specific marketing strategy for the women’s game.
FIFPRO, which last October wrote to FIFA calling for parity in conditions, opportunities and prize money between the men’s and women’s World Cups, called Friday’s news “significant progress” but said it would continue to push for parity.
“Thanks to months and years of campaigning by players around the world, significant progress has been made on the conditions, prize money and redistribution of prize money for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup,” FIFPRO said in a statement to ESPN. .
“The players are united behind simple but concrete demands for the professionalization of the FIFA Women’s World Cup: equal rules and conditions, a fair redistribution of prize money to players and a path to equal prize money, as well as an agreement that protects these commitments – – a legacy for players now and in the future.” as.
“FIFPRO, its member unions and the players celebrate the progress made by FIFA in terms of conditions and prize money for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“The progress announced today demonstrates the commitment of the players and FIFA to work proactively towards greater equality and equity for the industry.
“The work is far from over. As FIFPRO and 150 players from 25 national teams made clear in a letter sent to FIFA in October, the road to full equality remains significant.”
This report used information from Reuters and the Associated Press.
