Women’s Cup also has a game for equality in money – 07/21/2023 – Sports

There is a World Cup being played off the field as well. With the prospect of a record audience in the history of the tournament, female players and athletes’ organizations are fighting for financial equality with men.

Of the 32 teams disputing the tournament that started last Thursday (20), at least six have public disputes for money (see the table of games here). Other teams, considered less significant, did not even pay for their summons to participate in the qualifiers. A study by Fifpro, the international football union, says that around 30% of those who played in qualifying matches did so for free.

The estimated audience for this year’s Worlds is more than two billion spectators. About 500 million more than the figure disclosed four years ago, when the competition was hosted by France.

“Not putting into practice any system of financial compensation is something absurd. They are professionals or should be and they sacrifice a lot to play for their national teams. The World Cup should be the apex of their career also in the financial matter”, defends Jonas Baer-Hoffmann, general secretary of Fifpro.

There are complaints against federations that are not among the most wealthy in the sport, such as Nigeria and Jamaica, but the rich ones are also accused of stinginess.

The English Federation warned that it will not pay per diems for the players because FIFA will give, according to president Gianni Infantino, at least US$ 30,000 (R$ 143,000 at the current exchange rate) for each one who plays in the tournament. The 23 summoned released a statement together talking about the “disappointment” with the situation, but agreed to leave the matter for later because of the proximity of the debut against Haiti, this Saturday (22).

Jamaican fans opened different virtual crowdfundings to raise money for the team’s squad. In the qualifiers, they reported problems with flights and poor accommodation. The precarious financial situation of the team made the Nigerians threaten to boycott the World Cup.

The South Africans, upon learning that they receive only 10% of what is paid to players in the men’s national team, refused to play a friendly preparatory match for the World Cup. According to the balance sheet released by the Canadian Federation itself, the entity spent, in 2021, US$ 11 million (R$ 52.4 million today) with men and US$ 5.1 million (R$ 24.3 million) with women.

Canada’s women’s team is one of the strongest on the planet and won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The male team played two World Cups in its history, the last one in 2022. It was eliminated in the group stage in both and without winning any matches.

The Australians jointly called for an end to gender inequality in football and criticized the infrastructure available to the national team.

Even FIFA’s minimum payment for athletes has come to be questioned. After announcing the news with fanfare, last Thursday Infantino explained that, in fact, the money will be passed on to each national federation, which would be in charge of distributing the amount to the athletes. The entity gives US$ 1.5 million (R$ 7.1 million currently) per year to each country to develop women’s football, but there is no supervision of how the money is used.

“There are women from various national teams who are on the edge”, defines Chiyelu Asher, from the Jamaican national team and member of the board of Fifpro.

According to a study by the union, on average, the players called up for the World Cup this year receive about 75% less than the men who went to the World Cup in Qatar. For every dollar they pocketed, they had the equivalent of US$ 0.25.

By Forbes figures, the highest salary in women’s football is the North Americans Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe. There are US$ 5.7 million per year for each (R$ 27.2 million). The most lucrative contract in men’s is that of Cristiano Ronaldo with Al Nassr, from Saudi Arabia: US$ 136 million (R$ 648.6 million).

According to FIFA, the award for this year’s Cup will be a record in the sport, but it still does not come close to what was distributed last year. Of the US$ 300 million (R$ 1.4 billion), according to Forbes magazine, that the entity hopes to raise with the competition, US$ 110 million (R$ 524.6 million) will be given to the selections – the amount varies according to placement. Those who fall in the group stage will pocket US$ 2.3 million (R$ 11 million). The winning selection will be entitled to US$ 10.5 million (R$ 50 million).

Infantino’s annual salary to head FIFA is US$3.9 million (R$18.6 million).

Argentina, for winning in Qatar in 2022, was left with US$ 42 million (R$ 200 million). FIFA divides US$ 400 million (R$ 1.9 billion) among the men’s selections. The proceeds from the tournament were estimated at US$ 7.5 billion (R$ 35.7 billion). The reserves of the maximum football organization are US$ 4 billion (R$ 19 billion).

Last year, the US women’s team reached an agreement with the federation to match the men’s pay. USA Today’s estimate is that the players who participated in the qualifiers for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand were entitled to US$ 120,000 each (R$ 572,300), an amount 68% higher than in 2019.

Spain and Wales (who did not qualify) are two other nations that equalized the money distributed between men and women.

They are exceptions. According to Fifa numbers, 53% of countries do not have norms that determine minimum wages for female players. Of the 225 clubs registered in 25 national leagues, 23% have amateur athletes, who receive nothing to play.

Asked last Thursday about the disparity in money at the men’s and women’s World Cups, Infantino said he only wants to talk about good things until the end of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.

“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,” he said.