18 July 2023 , 13:01
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Australia star Alanna Kennedy has again raised the issue of equal pay ahead of the Women's World Cup.
The Manchester City star will be looking to guide Australia to the trophy on home soil as they co-host the tournament with New Zealand. This year's World Cup comes with the women's game enjoying more popularity than ever, although there remains a financial disparity with the men's tournament.
The total prize money for this year’s Women’s World Cup is £84.1million - a 300 percent increase from the 2019 tournament in France. However it is still substantially lower than the £336.4million pot for the most recent men’s tournament in Qatar.
Kennedy has raised the issue, whilst acknowledging that forward steps have been taken, as she and her colleagues look to keep the issue in the spotlight. She said: “I mean the argument is fair in some cases, but I think for us it’s just trying to shed a light on the positive side and how we can continue to elevate our voice and the talent that we have and have people support it.
“You’ll always get the ‘No one’s watching women’s football,’ those things are just water off a duck’s back. For us, it’s not true, we’ve sold out our game and there’s so many people coming to watch. You always have to take the positives out of it rather than look at it from a negative lens.”
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FIFA have stated that they will offer equal World Cup prize money for both tournaments by the next Women’s World Cup in 2027 with the men's tournament taking place in America 12 months earlier. The women have enjoyed new benefits this year with teams being given dedicated training bases whilst FIFA mandated that all players will receive a minimum amount of money and resources.
Alanna Kennedy during a training session before the World Cup (Getty)FIFA president Gianni Infantino, only several months ago, was calling out broadcasters for low balling their offers as they sought to purchase TV rights. A deal has eventually been struck after he made his feelings known: “To be very clear, it is our moral and legal obligation not to undersell the FIFA Women's World Cup," he said.
Infantino also claimed that “public broadcasters in particular have a duty to promote and invest in women's sport”. Australia begin their World Cup, which kicks off on Thursday, against Ireland whilst co-hosts New Zealand take on Norway
The FA are also facing backlash from the Lionesses as they struggle to come to an agreement on bonuses, which will now be parked until after the tournament.