Infantino refuses to talk about inequality in football – 07/20/2023 – Sport

Asked about inequality in wages and awards for men and women in football, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he wanted to talk only about “positive things” during the World Cup that started this Thursday (20).

Teams like England, Nigeria, Canada and the United States have or have had fights with their local federations over the matter. The English traveled to the World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand without a signed agreement on the money they will receive.

“Until August 21st, you will only hear positive things about all subjects and all people. If anyone is still not happy about something, I’m sorry. I’m happy with everything and I love everyone. After August 21st, we will focus on other issues around the world and deal with the problems that arise,” he said.

The date quoted by Infantino is the day after the women’s World Cup final.

Manager happiness strategy is a new feature to escape pesky questions directed at Fifa. Pressured by disrespect for human rights, punitive legislation on the immigrant workforce and discrimination against the LGBQIA+ community in Qatar, host of last year’s Men’s World Cup, Infantino went on the attack against Western countries and, in a different version of “I love you all”, said:

“Today I feel Qatari, I feel Arab, I feel African, I feel gay, I feel disabled, I feel like an immigrant worker.”

He also declined on Wednesday to discuss differences in prize money for teams participating in the men’s and women’s tournaments.

Fifa will distribute US$ 152 million (R$ 728 million at the current exchange rate) to the selections as remuneration for the players. The entity boasts that the amount is three times higher than what was paid four years ago, in the French Cup.

Last year, for men, in Qatar, FIFA made available US$ 440 million (US$ 2.1 billion).

“Although the prize pool has increased, it’s still only 25% of what men get. FIFA has advertised that this is equality. There is no guarantee that this will exist,” complains Katie Gill, chief executive of the Women’s Players Association of Australia, one of the hosts of the World Cup.

Infantino recalled that the number of broadcasting agreements for the Women’s Cup games has grown, which will take the tournament to more countries. It was the first time that the rights were sold individually and not as a package that headlined the Men’s Worlds. Last year, the leader complained that the offers made by broadcasters were too low and demanded that they increase the proposals.

He also pointed out that FIFA will distribute financial compensation to all participating players, ensuring that the athletes will have an income during the period they are away from their clubs.

“Money has always been a tricky issue. I am quite happy that, before I was president, the prize pool was lower than it is now. We have consulted with federations and players to go the right way. Payments will go through the federations and they will pay the players”, explained the president.

According to Fifa, 1.37 million tickets were sold for the World Cup, a number higher than that reached four years ago in France.