Every player at the upcoming Women’s World Cup will be paid at least £24,000 by FIFA – more than the annual salary many get from their clubs.
The details confirmed on Wednesday by FIFA fulfils a promise made in March to financially reward the 732 players taking part in the tournament hosted by Australia and New Zealand, with the 23 players in the title-winning team each taking home £217,000.
It means more than half of FIFA’s total prize money fund of £88.5m must be paid to the players in the 32 team squads.
Players from the 16 teams which do not advance from the group stage are still guaranteed to get £24,000.
FIFA said it is making “a huge investment in women’s football and, for the first time ever, we are guaranteeing prize money for players.”
The £88.5m pool is more than three times the £24m prize fund FIFA paid out at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.
FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, said at its annual congress in Rwanda that money should go directly to players.
The players’ union FIFPRO had challenged FIFA to secure a “global guarantee” that 30 per cent of the prize money would go to players.
“Players are united behind simple yet concrete demands for greater professionalisation of the FIFA Women’s World Cup,” FIFPRO said in March.
The 16 nations exiting in the group stage will get a total of £1.81m from FIFA – £555,000 to share among players and £1.25m for each federation.
FIFA will pay £8.5m to the title-winning nation. The majority of that, £4.99m, will be distributed among the players with the remaining £3.51m going to the federation.
FIFA previously allocated £24.7m in total to help the 32 teams prepare for the tournament. The players’ clubs will also get daily-rate payments from a £9.2m fund for releasing them to national-team duty.
It adds up to £122.2m in FIFA payments compared to £40.2m for the tournament four years ago. Infantino has set a target of equal prize money for men and women at their next World Cups in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
The 32 national federations whose teams played at the men’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar shared £357m in FIFA prize money.
Infantino has cited getting a better commercial deal for women’s soccer as the reason for publicly pushing broadcasters in key European markets to raise their offers for tournament rights.
Deals in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – all with teams in the tournament line-up – are unsigned just six weeks before the opening game. – Sky Sports
