PLAYERS vying for slots in the 23-women Filipinas squad that will play in the FIFA Women’s World Cup next month in Australia and New Zealand have extra motivation to do so.
The International Football Federation, known by its French acronym FIFA, announced yesterday that “every player will be paid $30,000 (roughly P1.684 million) by FIFA (for making it to the group stage), and the 23 players in the title-winning team will each get $270,000 (15.5 million),” according to a story posted on stuff.co.nz website.
“The details confirmed on Thursday by FIFA fulfils a promise made in March to financially reward the 732 players taking part in the tournament that kicks off July 20 at Auckland’s Eden Park,” the report said.
“That $30,000 for each player should be a relief for Filipinas team manager Jeff Cheng. At least, he won’t to have to spend as much on allowance,” quipped football chief Mariano Araneta Jr., acknowledging Cheng’s hefty contribution in bankrolling the squad.
“It means more than half of FIFA’s total prize money fund (of) $110 million must be paid to the players in the 32 team squads,” the report added.
“Players from the 16 teams which do not advance from the group stage are still guaranteed to get US$30,000 — more than the annual salary many get from their clubs,” it noted.
FIFA said it is making “a huge investment in women’s football and, for the first time ever, we are guaranteeing prize money for players.
“The $110 million ($182 million) pool is more than three times the $30 million prize fund FIFA paid out at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France,” it pointed out.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said at its annual congress in Rwanda that the money should go directly to players.
“The players’ union FIFPRO had challenged FIFA to secure a global guarantee that 30 percent of the prize money would go to players. It adds up to$152 million in FIFA payments compared to $50 million for the tournament four years ago,” the report added.
“Infantino has set a target of equal prize money for men and women at their next World Cups in 2026 and 2027, respectively,” the report added.
The 32 national federations whose teams played in the men’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar shared $440 million in FIFA prize money.
