The Brazilian team in training ahead of the Women’s World Cup. ANDRE COELHO (EFE)
No previous medical examinations. No adapted gyms. With inadequate and precarious salaries. Some even take days off from their second job to play. The different conditions between the players of the international teams were presented in a FIFPRO report. At the gates of the Women’s World Cup, which will take place in New Zealand and Australia from July 20 to August 20, the world governing body of soccer players FIFPRO has released a study based on a survey of 362 women players on the fragmented conditions in teams in the World Cup qualification. “We need to ensure that the framework of the game is built on solid foundations and promotes equality, fairness and best practice for women players no matter where they compete,” says David Aganzo, FIFPRO President.
Despite the rise of women’s football, only 40% of the players who will take part in the next World Cup consider themselves professionals, according to the report. The majority do not believe they can make football their living or devote themselves exclusively to football: more than half (66%) have had to request leave (paid or unpaid) in their second job to attend competitions. On the way to the World Cup, 29% of players said they did not receive any payment from their national team. According to FIFA’s comparative reports, the football players will bring in an amount of 28,000 euros for their participation, more than double what they earned in the previous edition of the tournament and also the average of their earnings per season. The number increases when we talk about the champions: each of them will receive 270,000 euros if they win the title, for a total prize of 110 million against 440 for the men. However, according to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, it will have to wait until 2027 to match the men’s salary.
Gianni Infantino announced the prize money for this year’s #FIFAWWC will increase from 30 million to 110 million. Almost four times more than at the last World Cup.
He also announced that #FIFA hopes to equalize awards between men and women #Women’s World Cup until the year 2027. pic.twitter.com/e6i6etx3UD— FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 (@FWWC2023) March 16, 2023
While in Spain the meetings between the F-League and the unions to increase the minimum wage for players (currently 16,000 euros) have been delayed, the situation in the United States is very different. American teams, both women’s and men’s, reached a collective bargaining agreement with the US Football Association last year to equalize salaries and prize money. “It’s the only federation in the world that does this,” said American soccer player Alex Morgan, who recalled with surprise the “good job” FIFA had done in increasing the World Cup prize money and distributing it among the players . “We still have a long way to go, but direct payments to the players are something big,” said the American.
The conditions in the facilities still need to be improved in order to reach the elite level: 66% of players think that the recreation centers do not meet the standards or that they lack appropriate spaces, while a third think that the training grounds and stadiums of the parties have also not reached the elite level. The number of games played also fills the athletes with hardly any rest days. They have no opportunity to rest physically or mentally between the different competitions and the x-ray of the situation worsens when 70% of soccer players affirm that they did not have an electrocardiogram before the tournament, or 39% of them had during the confederation championships no access to psychological support.
FIFA announced a level playing field for the men’s and women’s World Cup in March, a historic move but not accompanied by improvements in qualifying routes. Only one confederation, UEFA, offered a separate qualifying process involving 12 home and away matches. The other confederations had access to the 2023 Women’s World Cup through the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations or the Women’s America’s Cup Player Conditions. It is therefore important to ensure the best possible conditions,” says Jonas Baer-Hoffmann, FIFPRO Secretary General. With this report, the organization wants to show that global standards for the conditions of players at international tournaments, regardless of their caliber, need to be established and implemented, as well as calling for the adoption of a unified system and path classification.
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