Rabat – FIFA President Gianni Infantino has emphasized that women must “push the door” to equality.
Speaking in Australian capital Sydney ahead of the tournament’s final two games set to take place this weekend, Infantino said women who “pick the right fights” can “convince us men what we have to do” to bring progress in women’s football.
“With men, with Fifa, you will find open doors. Just push the doors,” he added.
In 2019, the total prize money for the Women’s World Cup was $40 million, which has made FIFA face serious criticism due to the big gap when compared to the men’s tournament.
However, the prize money for this ongoing World Cup quintupled to $150 million, still significantly lower than the men’s World Cup, as the 2022 Qatar World Cup’s prize pool amounted to $440 million.
“Equal pay in the World Cup? We are going in that direction already,” said Infantino regarding this massive discrepancy in the prize money between the men’s and women’s World Cups.
“This World Cup generated over $570 million in revenues, and so we broke even,” the official added.
“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,” he explained.
The FIFA president also spoke on the success that this edition had, as it “silenced” the critics who questioned having 32 teams instead of 24.
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