FIFA president Gianni Infantino introduced Thursday that on the upcoming Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, prize cash can be tripled as in comparison with the final version in 2019, including that Saudi Arabia’s vacationer board is not going to sponsor the event.
Speaking on the FIFA Congress in Kigali after being reelected for a 3rd time period as president, Infantino stated the overall pot, overlaying prize cash and compensation for preparations and for golf equipment, could be $152 million.
That is up from $50 million in 2019 and simply $15 million on the earlier event in Canada 4 years earlier.
The Women’s World Cup in July and August would be the first to characteristic 32 groups, up from the 24 groups who went to the 2019 version which was held in France and received by the United States.
The determine nonetheless pales in comparison with the $440 million prize cash on the 32-team 2022 males’s World Cup.
Infantino stated some broadcasters had provided 100 occasions much less to cowl the ladies’s competitors regardless of viewing figures being “very similar, maybe 20% less.”
“FIFA is stepping up not just with words but with actions. Unfortunately, this is not the case for everyone across the industry. Broadcasters and sponsors have to do more in this respect,” he stated.
“If the broadcasters provide us 100 million for the lads’s World Cup, they provide us a million or fewer for the ladies’s, and on the similar time these similar public broadcasters… criticize FIFA for not guaranteeing equal pay to women and men.
“Offer us 20% less, or 50% less, but not 100% less. Women deserve much, much more than that and we are here to fight for them and with them, but we need to fight together.”
The announcement of the rise in prize cash was hailed by the worldwide gamers’ union FIFPro, which stated in an announcement that “the progress announced today demonstrates the intent of the players and FIFA to work proactively toward greater equity and equality for the industry.”
No Saudi deal
Meanwhile, Infantino stated a mooted sponsorship cope with the Saudi vacationer board for the World Cup wouldn’t occur.
Reports of a attainable deal led to criticism by officers from Football Australia and New Zealand Football, who had stated they have been “shocked” and “disappointed” to not have been consulted given the Gulf kingdom’s poor document on ladies’s rights.
“There were discussions but in the end, the discussions did not lead to a contract,” Infantino stated, calling the outcry “a storm in a teacup.”
“I understand Australia has trade with Saudi Arabia of 1.5 billion (dollars) a year and that doesn’t seem to be a problem,” he added.
“There is a double standard that I really don’t understand, but there is no issue, no contract.”
Australia and New Zealand’s soccer federations welcomed FIFA’s announcement.
“Equality, diversity and inclusion are really deep commitments for Football Australia, and we’ll continue to work hard with FIFA to ensure the Women’s World Cup is shaped in this light,” stated Football Australia’s CEO James Johnson in an announcement.
“It is critical for all commercial partnerships to align with the vision and values of the tournaments they are involved in,” New Zealand Football stated.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
