Ahead of the 2023 World Cup, Female Footballers Rally for Equality in Large Numbers

Zurich –

World Cup 2023 will be held in a few months. Ahead of the grand tournament, female footballers filed a protest with FIFA regarding equality of treatment.

As reported by ABC.net.au, as many as 150 players from 25 countries signed a letter of protest to FIFA. It contains a demand for equality.

In the letter, hundreds of female footballers urged that the 2023 World Cup prize be equated with the men’s team’s 2022 World Cup prize in Qatar last year. The numbers presented are quite unbalanced.

In comparison, the Women’s World Cup in 2019 only provided a total prize pool of USD 30 million. Meanwhile, the 2022 World Cup for the men’s team in Qatar can reach 440 million USD, with Argentina winning 40 million USD as the champion.

President Infantino himself promised to double the number of prizes in the 2023 edition, along with adding participants to 32 teams. But still, the number of prizes is still far behind the men’s team.

Therefore, hundreds of male footballers are calling for equality in prize figures at the 2023 World Cup. The signed letter was then supported by FIFPro, the world association of professional footballers.

In addition to equality regarding the number of prizes, the female footballer also urged reform in the field of resources and a kind of non-discrimination commitment statement.

Those reforms included incorporating equality into World Cup rules and regulations such as travel to and from tournaments, the size of staff delegations, and access to training facilities and venues.

In addition, the players also want structural guarantees from FIFA so they can get 30 percent of the total World Cup prizes. Previously, FIFA gave gifts to federations, which sometimes the players did not get on the grounds that the money was allocated for other things.

World Cup 2023 itself will be held from July 20 to August 20. A total of 32 teams competed to become champions, taking the title from the United States as the defending champion, which will compete in Australia and New Zealand as the hosts.

Watch Video “Messi-Mbappe on the Green Carpet of The Best FIFA Awards“

(then/off)