Australia’s squad have criticised the gender disparity in World Cup prize money and the fact some nations do not have collective bargaining rights.
All 23 Matildas players featured in a video posted by the Australian professional players union (PFA) three days before the tournament begins.
The squad also called for all of the players in Australia’s A-League Women to be fully professional.
Australia are co-hosting the Women’s World Cup with New Zealand.
“736 footballers have the honour of representing their countries on the biggest stage this tournament,” said Australia and Everton midfielder Clare Wheeler in the video.
Western Sydney Wanderers’ Clare Hunt added: “Yet many are still denied the basic right to organise and collectively bargain.”
Brann midfielder Tameka Yallop said: “Collective bargaining has allowed us to ensure we now get the same conditions as the Socceroos, with one exception: Fifa will still only offer women one-quarter as much prize money as men for the same achievement.”
The total prize pot for the Women’s World Cup, which starts on Thursday, is $110m (£84.1m), a 300% increase from the 2019 tournament, but significantly lower than the $440m (£336.4m) pot for the men in Qatar last year.
The A-League’s minimum wage for players increased from $16,344 (£8,509) to $20,608 (£10,730) in the 2022-23 season and is set to rise again in the 2023-24 campaign to $25,000 (£13,011).
The league includes 12 teams with a regular season from November to April. The top four teams then play in semi-finals then a final to determine the champions.
Sydney FC’s Cortnee Vine added in the video: “Our sisters in the A-League are still pushing to make football a full-time career, so they don’t have to work part-time jobs like we had to.”
Speaking at the Fifa Congress in March, Fifa president Gianni Infantino said: “Our ambition is to have equality in payments for the 2026 men’s and 2027 women’s World Cup. This is the objective that we set to ourselves. Fifa is stepping up with actions, not just with words.”
Football’s governing body have also said its “ultimate aspiration” is for equal prize money and “we are on that journey”.
Equal pay has been established in cricket, with the International Cricket Council announcing the milestone on 13 July.
Credit: bbc.com
