How FIFPro brokered the FIFA Women’s World Cup payment structure

This was revealed to SABC Sport by FIFPro President David Agonzo, on the sidelines of the FIFPro Africa Congress in Gaborone, Botswana. 

All the players heading to the Women’s World Cup next month will receive at least R572 000 each, with the member associations pocketing R30 million for their participation in this tournament. 

Agonzo says this is just another step towards gender pay parity.

"Wow, it has been rigorous and very arduous work to reach this historical moment, and we've worked together with FIFA president Gianni Infantino and FIFPRO Global to reach this level of equality," explained Agonzo through a translator.

"We will have almost €50 million (R1 billion) directed to the women's game and, while it is historical, it's a job that stems from very arduous work, and we are happy if we could reach an even higher level of equality between male and female footballers.

The total prize money at this year’s world championships will be $110 million – a huge jump from the $30 million of the 2019 showpiece in France.

FIFPro were central to this after they sent a letter, signed by 150 women’s national team players to FIFA, in which they called for equal World Cup prize money, and Agonzo stresses the negotiation process was not easy.

"I should confess that it was a very rigorous negotiation, and I should not deviate from that. However, the final outcome was that we reached easy decisions.

"Infantino understood that we should reach a level where females can equate to male players. This is the vision he understood, and the results are visible."