The month of September in the year 2020 will go down as being one where many things were taking place around the world. With a global pandemic rumbling through most of 2020, you could be forgiven for thinking about anything else taking place.
Football Pay Equality
However, we could also have seen a monumental move in the world of women’s sport. At the beginning of September, it was announced by the Brazilian Football Confederation that male and female football players in the national football team will receive equal pay and prize money for representing their country.
This has been a huge talking point across many industries, from women appearing in the latest movies to those in high-powered business positions.
It was said by the CBF that they will now treat men and women equally moving forward, there will be no gender difference with football in this country anymore.
On top of this announcement, the Brazilian Football Confederation have also appointed two coordinators to specifically look at women’s football in the country. This is a further step towards equality, with funding in place to hire more people.
The issue of pay disparity has been around for many years, but it was highlighted when the women’s team from the USA sued their over governing body for gender discrimination. The US Soccer body were sued for discrimination in both earnings and working conditions by the players, who are seen as the biggest name in women’s football.
That was obviously the first domino, and a big one too, which has caused further bodies to look into the way they are dealing with this matter, and in the case of Brazil, make changes to avoid the potential of similar charges.
It should be said that the US team were unsuccessful in their bid, they lose in court back in May, and were also denied the chance to immediately appeal the decision made in court.
What is happening elsewhere?
This is certainly something that everyone will be keeping an eye on, from players to fans, governing bodies and even bookmakers. Will this levelling up give some women’s teams the ability to move forward and will new betting companies need to watch their growth in future tournaments?
Over in Australia, the football governing body there stated that it has reach an agreement last November which will close the pay gap between the men’s and women’s teams in the country. Their neighbours New Zealand announced something similar, while Norway have also made the same move, so things are being done to help.
Another country to change things recently has been England. The men’s and women’s national teams have both been receiving the same pay for match fees and bonuses since January 2020.
Sweden are another country to talk about this. They have said that the financial situation at the moment for them makes it impossible to pay men and women the same rate. As things currently stand, women are on just 24% of what the men are paid.
Things may change soon though as in light of the Brazil announcement, the men’s national team in Sweden announced they would play their remaining 2020 games for free to help the Swedish FA pay the women on their rate.
It seems the tide is turning and women’s football players are gradually being brought up to the monetary value of their male counterparts.
Tagged in Women's Issues womens football