FIFA President: $30K World Cup Payments to Women Players Not Guaranteed

FIFA leadership this week said that the federation may not be able to guarantee the $30,000 payments for every player in the Women's World Cup. 

According to the Associated Press, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said there was not guarantee that member federations would make the payments, which were promised to the women players. 

Infantino said that he is currently in talks with member federations, which are expected to make the payments, but there is no mechanism to directly pay the players the money. 

“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 promised that the 732 players participating in the Women's World Cup would all be paid at least $30,000, with the payment rising depending on how their team performs. 

The payment would be significant for many women, as the average salary worldwide for women who play professionally is $14,000. 

The payments would account for half of the $110 million Women's World Cup prize money. The men's purse is currently at $440 million. 

Infantino said that the Women's World Cup is expected to generate about $500 million in revenue and the organization will break even on the vent. 

The tournament opens Thursday with both co-hosts involved. New Zealand will play Norway in Auckland, and Australia will take on Ireland in Sydney.