England's women's team have reportedly agreed the 'most generous' bonus in their history ahead of the first game of the 2022 European Championship.
The Lionesses open the tournament with a clash against Austria on Wednesday night and will receive a healthy boost to their bank accounts if they go on to lift the trophy. The closest they have come to winning the tournament was in 2009, when they finished as runners-up.
They will have the added incentive of attempting to win a home tournament, with every game of this year's Euros taking place in England. And to add further fuel to their fire to win the competition, they will be handed a staggering bonus if they do.
According to The Telegraph, the FA will pay out £55,000 to each player in Sarina Wiegman's squad. It is described as being the highest bonus ever negotiated between the governing body and the Lionesses' players.
The £1.3m total pay-out is still less than the £5million bonus that England's men's side would have earned for winning Euro 2020. It is still the highest ever handed out to the women's team though and could see England's women take home more than £72,000 at the end of the tournament, given they also earn a appearance fee of £2,000 per match.
While the men's team donate their appearance fees to charity, the women's team tend to keep more of their bonuses due to their relatively low wages compared to their male counterparts. It is stated that they have made donations on several occasions over recent years.
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The £55,000 for this summer's tournament is more than £5,000 more than the average yearly wage in the Women's Super League. That is set to act as a 'major incentive' to the team, who are said to be 'delighted' with the bonus on offer.
Some have described it as potentially 'life-changing', with the team said to be determined to win their first major tournament. While the FA are refusing to comment on the size of the bonus, it does far exceed that offered to France's squad.
The French Football Federation are understood to have offered Les Bleues a tournament win bonus of £20,000 each. The England bonus also comes close to that being offered by UEFA to the winners, though the governing body's head of women's football has defended their stance.
"Of course, we understand that if you compare it directly to the men’s game, people are likely to have the opinion that it’s not enough. The amount has doubled, but people also need to fairly judge the overall situation of this tournament," Nadine Kessler said.
"Uefa will run a significant loss for this tournament, an investment we are absolutely willing and wanting to make to further grow the game. Prize money is super important, we all understand the symbolic meaning of huge increases in terms of prize money.
I’m really sure, with the commercialisation of the women’s game going fast at the moment, that big jumps can be expected in the future. And what if I compare it to 2017, where are we really? We're worlds apart. Prize money is one part of that big picture but it’s not the only one, and maybe that’s why it is as it is today, with a big doubled amount but not as much as we would all like."
