FIFPRO poll finds one-third of WWC players earn under $30K،
Even though the 2023 Women’s World Cup offered record rewards, many of the tournament’s players still lack adequate financial compensation and one in five supplement their income with a second job, according to a FIFPRO survey released Wednesday.
The global players’ union found that one in three World Cup players earn less than $30,000 a year from their national team and clubs combined.
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This figure does not include the minimum prize of $30,000 before taxes for the World Cup that FIFA has guaranteed to players.
Total prize money for the Women’s World Cup, the first in which it was guaranteed to players, rose to $150 million, 10 times what it was in 2015 and three times the 2019 total. That figure, however, remains dwarfed by the $440 million prize pool from the Men’s World Cup in Qatar last year.
“The players gave everything they had to deliver a brilliant World Cup, but there are still significant gaps to fill,” said Sarah Gregorius, FIFPRO Director of Policy and Strategic Relations for Women’s Football.
FIFPRO surveyed 260 World Cup players from 26 of the 32 national teams.
Even though some players have yet to receive the FIFA-guaranteed money, Gregorius said the delay in some countries was largely due to things like payment schedules, and that FIFA was working with them on that question.
“A lot of players have been paid and we’re getting a lot of feedback about how it’s changed their lives. In the end, I hope we’ll be able to say that 100% of the players have been paid. [and that] it was a real game-changer when it came to pay, gender equity and pay equity in football in general and in sport in general. »
The survey also reveals that 53% of players believe they did not get enough rest before their first World Cup match. Two-thirds believed they were not at peak fitness at the start of the tournament, and 60% said their post-tournament rest was insufficient, with 86% saying they had less than two weeks off before joining their club.
The survey also found that 10% of players did not have a medical examination before the tournament and 22% did not have an electrocardiogram (ECG), both cases falling under FIFA tournament regulations.
“Any result below 100% in accessing an ECG or completing a medical exam before the tournament is not acceptable,” said Alex Culvin, head of strategy and research for the women’s football at FIFA. “Regulations must be applied and respected in their entirety.”
