Matildas set for bumper payday but World Cup success sharpens focus on gender gap | OneFootball

The Matildas not only have the chance to make history on the field this week; three victories in eight days could hand each player an extra $277,000 in prize money. But many in the game are still adamant that amount is short-changing women who receive far less than their men’s counterparts, and the ball is now in Fifa’s court to increase the game’s financial rewards after the success of the Women’s World Cup.

France’s players walked away with $138,000 each after losing to Australia in the epic penalty shootout in Brisbane on Saturday. If the Matildas beat England in Wednesday’s semi-final, they will guarantee themselves $300,000 each. A victory over either Spain or Sweden in the final on Sunday would take individual prize money to $415,000.

Professional Footballers Australia co-chief executive Kate Gill said while football achievements are the players’ main motivation, the difference in prize money at the pointy end of the tournament matters.

“It’s a big deal for these players,” she said. The extra money on offer this week is especially significant for those players – like winger Cortnee Vine – who play in the A-League Women where the salary cap for an entire team, excluding marquee players, last season was $500,000.

“If they win [the tournament], Vine’s prize money would be effectively three quarters of the salary cap,” Gill said. The PFA also takes a cut of 7.5% to cover administrative costs and negotiations.

Former Matildas player Gill retired less than a decade ago, but she said any prize money she received “would have been measly at best”.

Canberra United forward Michelle Heyman said last week she remembered getting $750 for helping the Matildas to the quarter-finals of the 2015 tournament, highlighting how quickly financial rewards have increased.

The 2023 tournament’s total prize pot is $170m, triple compared to the 2019 World Cup in France. A victory on Sunday would mean Football Australia receives $6.6m as the victorious federation, in addition to the payments to players.

Fifa’s global women’s football benchmarking report last year reported the average annual salary of players at clubs which disclosed figures was approximately $21,500. In comparison, the minimum prize money for each player at the current four-week tournament is $46,000.

But money in the Women’s World Cup still pales in comparison to the rewards in the men’s game. At their World Cup in Qatar last year, the victorious Argentinians were given $65m, which was then split among the federation and players. Even the nations that exited at the group stage went home with close to $14m. In total, $645m was awarded.

The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, told the Fifa congress in March its ambition was to have equality in payments for the 2026 men’s and 2027 Women’s World Cup. “This is the objective that we set to ourselves,” he said. “Fifa is stepping up with actions, not just with words.”

But Gill is wary that nothing is set in stone, and the governing body could backtrack in the next four years, particularly if it faces revenue challenges. “Unless something’s written down and enshrined through a legal instrument, then you’re just hoping they’re true to their word,” she said.

Injured Matilda Chloe Logarzo said the success of the World Cup – especially in terms of television ratings, attendances and merchandise sales – shows the women’s side can flourish when given an equal platform.

“People have been able to turn around to us and say, ‘yeah, well, you don’t put bums in seats, and you don’t sell enough shirts’,” she tells Wednesday’s edition of Guardian Australia’s Full Story podcast.

“We didn’t actually have the opportunity to be able to do it. And I think this World Cup proves, if you give us the opportunity, people will turn up, people will be invested.”

Off the back of the success of this year’s tournament, Gill said it’s now Fifa’s responsibility to make sure there is pay equity by 2027. “If they can’t capitalise on this then that’s on them,” she said.

At the end of the tournament Fifa will pay Football Australia, which will then redistribute the funds to the players.

Header image: [Photograph: Darren England/AAP]