FIFA to address huge gulf in World Cup prize money between men and women as they agree to negotiations
FIFA has admitted that the astronomical gulf between World Cup prize money for men and women need to be addressed and has agreed to negotiations with the world players' union after the tournament which kicks off on Friday.
France banked around £30m for winning last year's World Cup, while the winners of the women's tournament will earn a little over £3m.
The Australian squad have used the spotlight of the tournament to launch a campaign, through players union Professional Footballers Australia, to highlight and reduce gap in financial rewards at the World Cup and world players union FIFPRO said there would be talks.
The union said in a statement: 'FIFA has agreed to our request to start negotiating new conditions for women's national team players after the 2019 Women's World Cup, and we are determined to making real and lasting progress on behalf of them.'
US coach Jill Ellis, whose team are in dispute with the American federation as her team defend their title in France, is among those to say she is disappointed with the financial rewards on offer.
Most frustrating for the women's game is the fact that the financial gulf appears to be growing.
FIFA has doubled the overall prize money fund to £23.6m since the last Women's World Cup in Canada in 2015. But that total amount is less than the £31.5m increase that men's World Cup prize money will get in 2022 - for a total of £347m in prize money.