Thursday 16 March 2023, 22:45

Gianni Infantino announces significant investment increase for FIFA Women’s World Cup™

  • USD 152 million earmarked for participants at the FIFA World Cup 2023. Investment three times more compared to 2019

  • FIFA President appeals to commercial partners to pay more for women’s football

  • Long term aim is for equal pay at the men’s and women’s World Cup

Gianni Infantino has announced a significant increase in the funding for teams and players taking part in and contributing to the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023™. “Today, (we are) embarking on a historic journey for women's football and for equality,” said the FIFA President, after being re-elected for a new four-year term at the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda. The FIFA President said that a total package of USD 152 million would be on offer at this year's tournament – three times more than at the previous FIFA Women's World Cup in France four years ago and over 10 times more than the amount offered at the 2015 tournament in Canada. This new approach to distribution of tournament funding will see basic prize money replaced with USD 110 million allocated to participant member associations, compared to USD 30 million in 2019 and USD 15 million in 2015. Now, for the first time ever, a dedicated proportion of this funding will be ringfenced for participating players that take part in the competition, ensuring that they are adequately compensated for their contribution and work, with the balance being retained by member associations for reinvestment in their footballing activities.

This increase stands alongside a doubling of preparation money allocated to participating member associations to assist them with the preparation of their team in advance of the tournament, which has risen to USD 31 million from USD 12 million when it was introduced for the first time in 2019. Additionally, the Club Benefits Programme, also introduced for the first time in 2019, will rise to USD 11 million from USD 8 million. In another historic first, additional to this total investment of USD 152 million in the tournament, FIFA will also be investing the additional funds necessary to ensure that the players at this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup enjoy equal conditions and services to those at the men's FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. Number of delegates per team, the level of international and domestic travel for the tournament, accommodation standards and rooms, team base camps and facilities, amongst other services extended by FIFA to participating teams will be delivered to the same level as those delivered to the men last year, and into the future.

FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 Total Compensation

“This will be a reality…the same conditions as 2022 will be for the players and coaching staff for the (FIFA) Women's World Cup 2023,” the FIFA President said, adding that broadcasters needed to follow the example by offering more to televise the FIFA Women’s World Cup. “FIFA is stepping up, but unfortunately this is not the case for everyone across the industry,” the FIFA President said. “Broadcasters and sponsors have to do more in this respect, for FIFA, for the confederations, for the member associations, for everyone. FIFA is receiving between 10- and 100-times inferior offers for the (FIFA) Women's World Cup than for the men’s World Cup.

“The news I have for those broadcasters or sponsors who don't want to offer similar amounts than for the men's World Cup is simply that we're not going to sell women's football and a Women's World Cup at these prices.” The FIFA President added that the ultimate aim, which he described as the most difficult step, would be to have equality in payments for the men's and women's World Cups in 2026 and 2027 respectively. “This is backed by our new commercial strategy with the implementation of a dedicated marketing concept for the women's game and the (FIFA) Women's World Cup in particular,” he said.