By Samindra Kunti in Sydney
July 17 – Australia’s women’s team have called FIFA out over the prize money gender gap with the men’s game, following their last friendly before the World Cup, where the Australians beat France 1-0.
In a video statement, the Matildas highlighted the plight of the women’s game and how far it still has to go to catch up with the men’s game and the billion-dollar industry attached to it.
“Seven hundred and thirty-six footballers have the honour of representing their countries on the biggest stage this tournament, yet many are still denied the basic right to organise and collectively bargain,” said the players.
“Collective bargaining has allowed us to ensure we now get the same conditions as the Socceroos, with one exception – FIFA will still only offer women one quarter as much prize money as men for the same achievement.
“And our sisters in the A-League Women are still pushing to make football a full-time career, so they don’t have to work part-time jobs like we had to.”
All 23 Matildas contributed to the video statement, in a similar fashion to how the Socceroos protested Qatar’s human rights record ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
The Matildas’ CBA with Football Australia guarantees that they will receive the same minimum percentage of prize money from tournaments as the Socceroos. However, prize money between the Women’s and Men’s World Cups are still miles apart.
The 2019 Women’s World Cup had $30 million in prize money on offer, but at the recent FIFA Congress in Kigali, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced that prize money for this summer’s tournament, the first to be played in a 32-team format, will be raised to $152 million. The world federation is also, for the first time, allocating individual player fees with remuneration starting at $30,000 per player for group-stage participation.
That move was praised by the global players’ union Fifpro as the “outcome of tremendous global collective action by over 150 national team players” and then months of “constructive negotiation with FIFA”.
The $152 million however still falls well short of the $440 million prize pot at the men’s World Cup. FIFA has said it is aiming for pay parity by 2027.
The Matildas can each earn $276,894 for winning the global crown on home soil and on the evidence of their 1-0 victory, thanks to a Mary Fowler strike against France, they are peaking at the right time. Coach Tony Gustavsson has created more depth in the squad and the win was an improved performance against top-ranked opposition.
“When we started this process, the federation presented the Gap Report and what was needed to do with this team,” said Gustavsson at a news conference. “Everything from the depth that we needed in the player roster […] to the stats showing that we had problems with top-ranked teams, and especially European teams.
“Tonight represented the final step in that process and that journey in preparing for the World Cup.
“We have five wins in a row against European opposition now; four top-10-ranked teams in a row, including three clean sheets against Sweden, England, and France. We’ve kept a clean sheet in six of the last eight games. We know we can score against anyone.
“This is a night to celebrate what we’ve done over two years in terms of investment in the women’s game and investment in this team with resources.”
On Thursday, Australia will kick off their World Cup campaign against Ireland at a sold-out Stadium Australia. Hours earlier, co-host New Zealand will feature in the tournament’s curtain-raiser against Norway.
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