Natalia Chi
The Women’s World Cup has increased prize money by more than 300% in this year’s tournament.
$152 million in funding for the first 32-team tournament — covering prize money, team preparation and player club payments — is up significantly from the 24-team tournament in 2019 and ten times more than in 2015 will be
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in Rwanda on Thursday that some of the $110 million in pure prize money should go to paying players after being re-elected by 2027.
Infantino also expressed his anger at the station for offering too few television rights. He said FIFA would not sell the broadcast rights to the tournament in Australia and New Zealand at the prices currently being offered.
“Women deserve more. We are there to fight for them and with them,” he said.
Women’s players around the world have fought for equal pay and equal respect as men’s national teams, including defending champions USA, Canada, France and Spain.
Infantino has set a goal of equal prize money for men and women at the upcoming World Cups in 2026 and 2027. This was a daunting task when 32 men’s teams shared his $440 million at last year’s World Cup in Qatar.
The FIFA president angrily targeted the broadcaster. That included her channel of taxpayer-funded public service, which gave her up to 1 in 100 rights to the women’s tournament the taxpayer provided.
Infantino first raised the issue in New Zealand in October, arguing that FIFA still wouldn’t sell at that price because women’s soccer attendance is probably 20-50% lower than men’s matches.
“Well, 20% less, 50% less, but not 100% less,” Infantino said in his closing remarks at the FIFA competition.
Infantino was later asked about the controversial sponsorship deal with the Visit Saudi Tourism Authority.
The governments of both host nations and the World Cup organizers had questioned whether the Saudi deal was appropriate for the women’s tournament.Among players calling on FIFA to reconsider, US forward Alex Morgan He called the proposal “strange.”
Infantino called the controversy a “storm in a bowl” and said the Visit Saudi contract extension, which began at the men’s World Cup in Qatar, was a “did not reach a deal” debate.
The FIFA president also pointed a thorn at critics of the deal, describing it as “a double standard that I do not understand”.
He said Australia has $1.5 billion worth of export trade to Saudi Arabia each year and “this doesn’t seem to be a problem or a problem.”
