If we’ve learned anything about women’s football, it’s that nothing happens if the players don’t do something themselves. Every little change has to be claimed. Nothing comes for free. Had the stars not taken up roles as activists, development would have almost come to a standstill. Fortunately, football is full of female profiles who dare to speak out about the injustices they see and the changes they want. There are plenty of cases to choose from, from human rights to sexual abuse and gross discrimination. But with one month to go until the WC, the stars have won a different kind of victory. It is about how much prize money FIFA pays out to those who participate. For many players, the changes will be the difference between continuing and quitting. Salary per year: NOK 150,000 On Wednesday last week, FIFA said that each player participating in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is guaranteed 30,000 dollars. So a kind of minimum wage of more than NOK 320,000. The further you get in the tournament, the more the sum increases. If you are used to men’s football, it is easy to think: Is the minimum wage that high? Aren’t they always paid to participate? Don’t they already earn enough? The answers to those questions are no, no and no. MUST FIGHT: Yuping Lin from China and Thembi Kgatlana from South Africa. Photo: AFP When you watch the World Cup on TV, you would think that all the female players there are earning well. We see big sponsors, beautiful grass carpets and many full stands. A whopping 1.12 billion watched via TV or the internet in 2019. But without the pitch, there are more people who barely make any money. Last year, FIFA said that paid female players earn an average of 14,000 dollars per year, i.e. around 150,000 kroner. The differences are enormous. Among the teams in this year’s WC we find the Philippines, Vietnam and Haiti. Some players have to ask the boss for time off. The striker who scored the winning goal in the match you saw may struggle to get things going. In some cases, players have to quit football to get a real job. Different agreements Much of the reason is that FIFA has never had a system for how large a proportion of the money should actually go to the players. They give money to the federations, and then it is up to the bosses there – who are almost always men – to decide what the ladies get. The US women’s team has both the same salary as the men and a 50-50 distribution of the prize money. But we don’t even have to leave Scandinavia to find great disparities. In last year’s EC, Sweden gave its players NOK 254,000 each, i.e. almost everything they got for participating. Norway gave its players NOK 81,000, i.e. 25 percent of the sum. In many countries, the players do not have any agreements on this at all. Women’s teams are often given lower priority. Protests have been going on for a long time. In 2017, the Argentine women’s team demanded to be paid $8.50 per day – without being heard. As recently as this year, Canada has gone on strike against its own federation due to drastic budget cuts. Argentina has won three World Cups on the men’s side. Canada’s women’s team won Olympic gold in 2021. If this happens in such a large country, what is the status among the smaller nations? It is difficult for women in several places to make demands. In countries like the USA, the profiles are stars with weight and influence. They have interest organizations that fight for them. In other countries, the players stand alone. If they make demands, they can be benched or frozen out. Requirements for FIFA Fortunately, women’s football is not like other sports. This is an industry where the biggest names work for the smallest, where the stars see the big picture, where there are more important things than training and tactics and the next match. Again, the big profiles have taken up roles as activists on behalf of women’s football as a whole. And got paid. Don’t think that FIFA itself announced this change out of the blue. They agreed to it after several months of pressure from FIFPRO, the international interest organization for professional players. In October, FIFPRO sent a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino. It was signed by more than 150 players from 25 countries, including Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Sam Kerr. FIFPRO called the letter the greatest example of collective activism in the history of women’s football. FIGHTING FOR THE LITTLE ONES: Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe have come a long way in the fight for equality at home in the United States. Now they are fighting for more nations to follow suit. Photo: AP The letter had three demands on FIFA before the World Cup in 2023: 1) That women and men must have equal travel and living conditions during the World Cup. 2) That women and men should receive the same amount of prize money. 3) That at least 30 percent of the prize money should go to the players. This was the action that started the process. And it was necessary. Everyone wins Before this, the women’s teams received less money for travel than the men. In the WC in 2019, each women’s team was guaranteed 750,000 dollars in prize money. In the 2022 World Cup, each men’s team was guaranteed $9 million. The ladies thus received less than seven percent of what the men received. And of that sum, several players risked being left without a single penny. The letter worked. In March, Infantino said at FIFA’s annual conference in Rwanda that prize money during this year’s World Cup will increase from $30 million to $110 million. If you include the money FIFA sets aside for the teams’ preparations and the players’ clubs, the sum is more than three times as high as four years ago. That was a victory in itself. Infantino promised that FIFA would try to pay out the same amount of money to the women as the men in 2027. MUST BE PRESSED: FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Photo: Reuters But FIFA needed more time to decide how much the players should get. Last week the answer came: 30,000 dollars each, at least. That is slightly less than half of what the associations are guaranteed in total. For FIFA, which last year had 3.97 billion dollars in the bank, it is pocket money. For some players, it is money that can save their career. And for the stars who signed the letter, it is a victory for women’s football itself. More money means better facilities and more time to train. This means that the smallest teams will improve, that the quality of football will improve and that the value of the World Cup will increase. This is a win-win deal. Both the players, FIFA and football itself.
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