2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup – ‘I Feel Tired’, Gianni Infantino Clamps Down Uproars On Players’ Pay, Prize Money Demand As Kick-off Looms
Written By Olaleye Oluwadamilola
Gianni Infantino, world football governing body president has clamped down on the ongoing row which has spread so much negativity and toxicity among players concerning player’s pay and the prize money of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup which will simultaneously hold in Australia and New Zealand with an ‘I feel tired’ bizarre comment as kick-off to the highly anticipated global event looms.
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The FIFA president reiterated that he only wants to talk about positive things during the Women’s World Cup after being asked about prize money issues and the pay gap to the men’s game while also seizing the moment at a news conference on Wednesday to joke about his bizarre speech at the men’s World Cup in Qatar, admitting to reporters that: ‘Today, I feel tired.’
It comes after Australia women’s side criticised the difference in World Cup prize money to the men’s game, while England have been at odds with the Football Association over bonuses, with the Lionesses now putting talks on hold so they can focus on the tournament.
In November, the FIFA president’s extraordinary monologue saw him make headlines after saying: “Today I feel Qatari, I feel Arab, I feel African, I feel gay, I feel disabled, I feel a migrant worker which has since gone rival and he borrowed out of the comment to diffuse the negative discussions circulating before the kick-off to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup which will start tomorrow.
While the 53-year-old revealed he was happy to be there, he insisted on keeping the mood that way when he was met with questions about the gender pay disparity in the women’s game – a day before the tournament kicks off Down Under.
Having arrived New Zealand yesterday, Infantino said in a press conference: “It’s a great moment to be here. For those of you who are waiting to hear how I feel today, I feel tired because I have just landed. But I feel very happy.”
Speaking further, “today is the eve of the opening game of the Women’s World Cup and for me it’s a moment to focus on the positives.”
“Until the August 20 [date of the final] you will only hear positive things from me about everything and everyone and if somebody is still not happy about something then I am so sorry.”
“As of August 21 we focus on some other issues around the world. We will deal with all the problems coming up. But seriously we have made important steps and made a path.”
Infantino could also make no guarantee that the member federations will distribute the £24,000 ($30,000) payments promised to every player at the World Cup.
He said that he’s engaging with member federations on the issue, with the payments made to the national federations, which are expected to pay the players.
However, there is no mechanism to directly pay the players the money, which could be life-changing for some.
Meanwhile…
“We are moving of course in the right direction, we have been consulting with associations, with players, to try to go in the right path,” Infantino said. ‘We have issued these recommendations, but we have an association of associations.
“So whatever payments we do, we will go through the associations and then the associations will, of course, make the relevant payments to their own players. We are in touch with all the associations.”
FIFA had previously confirmed that the 732 players participating in the World Cup will be paid at least £24,000 each.
The paycheck rises if teams do well, with each player for the winning team earning £200,000 ($270,000) although, Infantino said there are complications including residency and taxation that are best handled by federations.
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The payment is significant for many players: the average annual salary worldwide for women who play professionally is £10,000 ($14,000).
FIFA’s agreement means that half of the total World Cup prize money fund of £84million ($110m) will be paid to the players in the 32 teams but the prize pool is more than three times the £23m ($30m) prize fund FIFA paid out at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.
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