Fifa chief Gianni Infantino says equal pay at the Women’s World Cup ‘would not solve anything’
- ‘It’s one month every four years and it’s a few players out of thousands,’ says Fifa president, who wants ‘full equality’
- Recent reports from Fifa show that the average league and club salary for women is US$14,000 worldwide
Fifa president Gianni Infantino feels equal pay at the men’s and women’s World Cups would only be a “symbol” that would not “solve anything” if additional development targets for the women’s game are not achieved.
On Sunday, England will play Spain in the final for their share of an increased prize pot of US$110 million for this tournament, more than three times than what was on offer for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, but still significantly less than the US$440 million awarded at the 2022 men’s competition in Qatar.
Infantino has previously outlined ambitions for prize parity by the 2026 and 2027 World Cups, but two days before the conclusion of the ninth edition of the women’s showpiece, challenged stakeholders to do more.
“Let’s really go for a full equality,” Infantino said. “Not just equal pay in the World Cup, which is a slogan that comes up every now and then. Equal pay in the World Cup, we are going in that direction already.”
“But that would not solve anything. It might be a symbol but it would not solve anything, because it’s one month every four years and it’s a few players out of the thousands and thousands of players. We need to keep the momentum. We need to push it. We need to go for equality but we have to do it for real.”
Two months before the tournament, Infantino threatened that he may be “forced not to broadcast” the World Cup in Europe’s ‘big five’ countries following what he felt were “very disappointing and simply not acceptable” offers from broadcasters, though deals were eventually reached.