With the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 coming up this July, FIFA President Gianno Infantino announced; at the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday; that the prize money will increase to 150 million dollars. That is supposedly 10 times more than it was in 2015 (before Infantino was president) and 3 times more than the 2019 prize. However, not more than the 2022 Men’s World Cup prize money.
In announcing the increase in prize money, Gianno Infantino claimed a “historic journey for women’s football and for equality” that “will lead us to a path to equal pay.”
Because while this increase in prize money is still less than the 440-million-dollar prize awarded at the Men’s World Cup in Qatar in 2022, Infantino says that his mission is to have equality in payments by the 2026 Men’s and 2027 Women’s World Cups.
In other words, women soccer players, please give us all your energy for 2023 but hold off a few more years for a fair payment; change takes time. An unnervingly true explanation that still doesn’t make it any less exasperating.
The advancements for this year are, however, impressive enough to make a statement. Gianno Infantino not only promised to provide equal conditions and services for all men and women playing at a World Cup, such as accommodations and flights but also made his critique for broadcasters publicly known due to their offering up to 100 times less money for the Women’s World Cup than for the men’s tournament. The money he refuses to accept the TV rights, saying FIFA will not sell broadcast rights for the tournament at the prices currently being offered. “FIFA is stepping up with actions and not just words… Unfortunately, this is not the case with everyone across the industry. Broadcasters and sponsors have to do more.” said Gianno Infantino.
If we set aside the still obvious difference in payments between the men and women FIFA winners and focus on the difference in money when looking at the past Women’s World Cups, it looks impressive. However, we as human beings have always been told to look into the future and not focus on the past. Compare yourself to the best, not the mediocre, and you’ll have better results. This should be the case for the sports industry.
The FIFA president, Gianno Infantino, is aware of the injustices between men and women in the sports industry and should be given more power and tools to do something about it: “Women deserve much, much more than that, and we are there to fight for them and with them,”
