FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, has advised women’s football to “pick the right battles” in the campaign for equal pay, putting the onus on women to implement the change.
Infantino stated this ahead of Sunday’s Women’s World Cup final in Sydney that equal pay in men’s and women’s tournaments could only be a “symbol” and would not “solve anything” until extra development criteria are met. He then challenged women to push through doors that he claimed his organisation and those in charge of the men’s game had already left open.
Infantino said: “And I say to all the women, and you know I have four daughters, so I have a few at home, 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 of 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 face Spain in the final for a share of a $110 million (£86.1 million) prize, which is more than three times what was on offer for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France but still much less than the $440 million (£346 million) granted for the 2022 men’s championship in Qatar.
Infantino had previously stated his desire for parity by the World Cups in 2026 and 2027, but in Sydney he pushed stakeholders to go farther. “Let’s go for full equality,” he said. “Not simply equal pay at the World Cup, which is a catchphrase that pops up now and then, We are already moving in the direction of equal pay at the World Cup.
“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 thousands and thousands of players. We need to keep the momentum going. We need to push it. We need to go for equality, but we have to do it for real.”
Viewing figures in Australia have surpassed records, with a peak of 11.5 million people—around 46% of the population—tuning in to watch the Matildas play England in their semi-final, the country’s most-watched television programming since 2001, when the current rating system was established.
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 $570 million (£448 million) 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.”
