Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, has urged women’s football to “pick the right battles” in the fight for equal pay while placing the onus on women to enforce the change.
Speaking in the buildup to Sunday’s Women’s World Cup final in Sydney, Infantino said equal pay at the men’s and women’s tournaments could only be a “symbol” and would not “solve anything” if additional development targets are not achieved. He then urged women to push doors he claimed are already left open by his organisation and those running the men’s game.
Infantino said: “And I say to all the women, and you know I have four daughters, so I have a few at home, I say to all the women that you have the power to change. Pick the right battles. Pick the right fights. You have the power to change. You have the power to convince us men what we have to do and what we don’t have to do. You do it. Just do it. With men, with Fifa, you will find open doors. Just push the doors. They are open.”
On Sunday England will play Spain in the final for their share of an increased prize pot of $110m (£86.1m), more than three times than what was on offer in France in 2019 but still significantly less than the $440m awarded at the 2022 men’s competition in Qatar.
Infantino previously outlined ambitions for parity by the 2026 and 2027 World Cups but in Sydney challenged stakeholders to do more. “Let’s really go for a full equality, he said. “Not just equal pay in the World Cup, which is a slogan that comes up every now and then.
“Equal pay in the World Cup, we are going in that direction already. But that would not solve anything. It might be a symbol but it would not solve anything, because it’s one month every four years and it’s a few players out of the thousands and thousands of players. We need to keep the momentum. We need to push it. We need to go for equality but we have to do it for real.”
Viewing figures have broken records in Australia, where a peak 11.5 million people – about 46% of the population – watched the Matildas play England in their semi-final, the country’s most-watched television programme since the existing rating system was established in 2001.
The 7.3 million people who viewed that game on BBC One comprised the biggest UK audience of the World Cup so far, and Infantino said broadcasters have a part to play in the prize parity target. The 2023 tournament was expanded to 32 teams, and is the first hosted by more than one country, but Infantino said it had been a financial success.
Working on a little presentation to convince men. Who's in? 👩💼 https://t.co/rj7YDpYHsX
— Ada S Hegerberg (@AdaStolsmo) August 18, 2023
Infantino said: “Some voices were raised, where it cost too much, ‘we don’t make enough revenues, we will have to subsidise’. And our opinion was: ‘Well if we have to subsidise, we will subsidise, because we have to do that.’
“But actually, this World Cup generated over $570m in revenues, and so we broke even. We didn’t lose any money and we generated the second-highest income of any sport, besides of course the men’s World Cup, at a global stage.”
