WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Co-hosts and Super Falcons’ opponents Australia call out World Cup pay disparity
Australia’s Matildas have released a video statement calling out gender disparity in World Cup prize money and voicing support for women players denied “the basic right” of collective bargaining in pay negotiations.
The video, supported by Australia’s professional players union, features every member of the co-hosts’ Women’s World Cup squad and comes amid pay disputes at multiple teams at the tournament starting on Thursday.
The Matildas went on strike in 2015 to demand better pay and have received the same minimum percentage of prize money for tournaments as the Australia national men’s team, the Socceroos, since a 2019 collective bargaining agreement.
However, they will compete for a fraction of the $440 million total prize pool offered to the men’s teams at last year’s World Cup in Qatar.
“Seven hundred and thirty-six footballers have the honour of representing their countries on the biggest stage this tournament, yet many are still denied the basic right to organise and collectively bargain,” the players say in the video.
“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.
“We call on those who run the game to work to provide opportunities for girls and women in football, whether that be players, coaches, administrators or officials.”
Global governing body FIFA did not provide immediate comment.
The total prize pool for the Women’s World Cup is $110 million, roughly 300% higher than what FIFA offered for the 2019 tournament in France.
FIFA is aiming for prize money parity by the time of the next men’s and women’s World Cups in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
Players from Women’s World Cup teams England, Canada and Nigeria have been in dispute with their federations over pay in the leadup to the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
The Matildas’ message suggested gender equity in sport would again be a major point of discussion during the tournament, as it was in 2019 when the United States’ pay dispute with their federation took the spotlight.
New Zealand midfielder Olivia Chance told Reuters it was natural for women to “push for equal”.
“We are pushing for better standards of the game and I think it’s only natural when you see an organisation that maybe are giving more – because they always have – then you’re going to push for equal,” she said.
“In a workplace, if you see someone getting more, you’re going to push,” she added, noting that she had not yet seen the video message. “That’s just natural as a human being.”
The Matildas’ statement is reminiscent of the video released by the Socceroos ahead of the 2022 World Cup which spoke out against Qatar’s record on human rights and same-sex relationships.
-Reuters
Nigeria Super Falconets gave Nigerians additional joy after their 4-0 defeat of Venezuela in Cali, Colombia in their last group match. Their victory followed up with an earlier 3-0 win by the Super Eagles in their opening Group D match with Benin Republic in Uyo.
The Falconets’ win means they have qualified for the Round of 16 where they are most likely going to face Japan when the group games are completed on Sunday.
Both Nigeria and Germany tied on six points, but Germany have one goal better than Nigeria on goal difference.
The Super Falcons made early hays when Amina Bello put Nigeria ahead after 16 minutes. Chiamaka Okwuchukwu doubled the lead in the 28th minute before Flourish Sebastine put in the third five minutes into the added time of the first half. Joy Igbokwe put in the back breaker four minutes into the added time of the second hald.
Nigeria’s U-20 Women’s World Cup campaign suffered a setback as they fell to a 3-1 defeat against a clinical German side in Bogota, Colombia on Wednesday night.
The result secures Germany’s place in the knockout stages, while leaving the Falconets with work to do in their final group match.
In an end-to-end encounter, both sides created numerous chances, but it was Germany who struck first. Cora Zicai’s pinpoint cross found Alara Sehitler, who nodded home in the 17th minute to give the Europeans the lead.
Nigeria’s star performer, Chiamaka Okwuchukwu, had earlier come close to opening the scoring with a magnificent solo run, only to be denied by German goalkeeper Rebecca Adamczyk.
Okwuchukwu’s persistence paid off early in the second half when she capitalized on a defensive mix-up to draw Nigeria level, celebrating with Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous ‘siuuu’ celebration.
However, Germany’s quality shone through as they regained the lead through Sofie Zdebel, again assisted by the impressive Zicai.
Despite Okwuchukwu having another goal ruled out for offside, Germany sealed the win in stoppage time with Sarah Ernst’s powerful header.
The defeat leaves Nigeria on three points from two matches, with their final group game against Venezuela in Cali now crucial to their hopes of progressing.
Germany beat Nigeria’s Falconets 3-1 in their second group game of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. With Germany’s win, the Europeans have made it to the last 16 stage, even with a game to spare.
The coach of Germany, Kathrin Peter acknowledged the efforts of the Nigerian team , saying: “It was a really tough match today.
“That was expected, but we actually had big problems in defence. They had a few chances where we had the necessary luck, we have to admit that.
“But in the second half we were really good and asserted our dominance and I think we deserved to win in the end.”
Here are some major points:
- Germany beat Nigeria 2-0 in the final match 14 years ago in Germany.
- Germany have now won their last four FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup meetings with Nigeria. Alex Popp inspired a 2-0 victory in the 2010 final, Lena Petermann settled the decider in extra-time four year later, and Stefanie Sanders was the solitary scorer in Group D in 2018.
- This was just Nigeria’s third loss in their past 24 group matches at the tournament.
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