FIFA has announced a major increase in prize money for the upcoming 2023 women’s World Cup, with president Gianni Infantino vowing to equal the men’s tournament by 2027.
There will be a $152 million fund available for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand this summer, the first women’s World Cup with 32 teams.
Of that amount, $110m will go to prize money, with the rest going to team preparation and payments to players’ clubs.
That represents a major increase from the $30m fund for the 24-team edition in 2019, but is also well short of the $440m total awarded for the 32-team men’s World Cup in 2022.
At the FIFA Congress in Rwanda, Infantino blamed the ongoing disparity on broadcasters who were not offering nearly as much for women’s World Cup rights as they did for the men’s tournament — echoing a similar complaint from October.
“Women deserve much, much more than that and we are there to fight for them and with them,” he said.
“Offer us 20% less, 50% less. But not 100% less,” Infantino added. “That’s why we can’t do it.”
Infantino also said FIFA would be offering equal conditions and services between the 2022 men’s World Cup and the women’s tournament in 2023.
“This will be a reality already for the Cup in 2023, same conditions as for the World Cup ’22 will be for the players and coaching staff in the women’s World Cup in ’23.”
Infantino, who was elected for another term as FIFA president after running unopposed, added that FIFA’s aim would be to have equal prize money between the 2026 men’s World Cup and the 2027 women’s World Cup.
That could be a tall order — not only because of the huge disparity in current prize money, but because the 2026 World Cup will have 48 teams while the 2027 World Cup will likely continue with 32 teams.
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