Big news on the World Cup prize money front: Players will get paid individually
The IX: Soccer Monday with Annie M. Peterson, June 12, 2023
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The biggest development surrounding the World Cup was FIFA’s announcement that individual players would indeed get a cut of prize money. In the past, the money has gone directly to federations. Sometimes the players got a slice of the pie, sometimes they didn’t.
Every single player who participates will get $30,000. The payments go up the further teams go in the tournament, with players on the winning team receiving a guaranteed $270,000 each. Essentially, more than half of the $110 million in total prize money will go directly to the players.
Even for teams that have no chance or advancing, this is a significant payday for players, including those who don’t play for major club teams. Keep in mind that last year FIFA’s benchmarking report on women’s soccer said the average salary for players internationally was $14,000.
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I obtained the letter FIFA sent to it’s member associations explaining its investment in Women’s World Cup. It offered details about individual payments while also outlining how the $152 million in prize money and team benefits shake out.
Here are some details:
1.) Delegations for each team can be up to 50 people. And those people will all be housed in a single hotel or accommodation. FIFA previously improved things like international travel and domestic travel for those delegations, matching the men’s standards.
2.) FIFA doubled the preparation funding to $31 million total for the 32 teams.
3.) All the participating federations will receive $1,560,000 out of the $110 million prize pool. The amount increases with each phase of the knockout round. This does not include player compensation.
So here’s what that looks like: The 16 nations which don’t advance past the group stage get a total of $2.25 million, $690,000 for the players ($30,000 each) and $1,560,000 for the federation.
The winners get $10.5 million, which breaks down to $6.21 million for the players ($270,000 each) and $4.29 million for the federation.
5.) FIFA also increased club benefits from $8.5 million to $11.5 million.
There was only $30 million in prize money for the 2019 Women’s World Cup. So the improved funding, while not yet equality, is a big improvement.
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Moving on, a few more provisional rosters have been named. Notably, Spain released a roster with Alexia Putellas on the squad, and three players from the group of 15 who protested treatment and other conditions last fall.
Here is Spain’s provisional roster:
Goalkeepers: Misa Rodríguez, Cata Coll, Enith Salon, Elene Lete.
Defenders: Ivana Andrés, Olga Carmona, Sheila García, Irene Paredes, Rocío Gálvez, Ona Batlle, Laia Codina, Paula Tomás, Oihane Hernández, Jana.
Midfielders: Claudia Zornoza, Irene Guerrero, María Pérez, Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmatí, Teresa Abelleira, Maite Oroz, Fiamma Benítez.
Forwards: Jenni Hermoso, Esther González, Alba Redondo, Athenea del Castillo, Marta Cardona, Salma Paralluelo, Eva Navarro, Imma Gabarro.
Canada also announced a camp roster for the World Cup. No real surprises here.
Goalkeepers: Sabrina D’Angelo, Lysianne Proulx, Kailen Sheridan.
Defenders: Kadeisha Buchanan, Allysha Chapman, Vanessa Gilles, Ashley Lawrence, Jayde Riviere, Jade Rose, Shelina Zadorsky.
Midfielders: Quinn, Marie-Yasmine Alidou D’Anjou, Simi Awujo, Jessie Fleming, Julia Grosso, Sophie Schmidt, Desiree Scott.
Forwards: Jordyn Huitema, Cloe Lacasse, Clarissa Larisey, Adriana Leon, Christine Sinclair, Nichelle Prince, Deanne Rose, Evelyne Viens.
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On to some links!
Catarina Macario signed by Chelsea, from The Athletic.
Good story here from Jeff Kassouf in The Equalizer: How bubble World Cup players are dealing.
CNN says the Women’s World Cup will be the best-attended women’s sporting event ever.
Quinn calls on the NWSL to take a new look at transgender policy from Just Women’s Sports.
What are all the NWSL teams doing for Pride?
Angel City FC and Bay FC ready for a rivalry, from Alex Simon at the San Jose Mercury News.
Jonathan Tannenwald with a story on Kate Scott moving over to soccer for the World Cup. YAY!
Steven Goff with the Washington Post chatted with Jill Ellis.
Canada announces its camp roster ahead of the World Cup.
NPR Weekend edition covers the apparent stalemate over European broadcast deals for the World Cup.
Caitlin Murray makes her roster prediction for the World Cup.
AP’s Story on Spain’s provisional roster.
AP’s Story on the FIFA prize money developments.
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FIVE AT THE IX: ADRIANA
Adriana (who will certainly be at the World Cup for Brazil) had a brace and the Orlando Pride got a big 3-1 win against the Portland Thorns this weekend. Afterward, she spoke through a translator.
Question: Tell us your thoughts on your brace.
Adriana: Yeah, I’m very, very happy. I have been putting pressure on myself to have a great performance to be able to help even more of my teammates. So I’m really happy that I got to score on the opportunities I was given, so I can help the team with this win, and my goals.
Question: Was there a feeling that you wanted a bit of revenge after the last match against the Thorns?
Adriana: Yeah, for sure. It was kind of that feeling. I mean, we all know it’s a hard game away from home. But we had imposed ourselves here. We had to show and play and control the game, and that little revenge that we wanted because of the score that was in the first game. So we just tried to control the game and have the opportunity so we could do a great game in front of our fans and win this game.
Question: How important are these performances in terms of preparation for the World Cup?
Adriana: Yeah, it’s very important. You know, I keep growing every game so I’m always looking to get better to be able to help my team, and to get better so I can help the national team as well and help them bring this title, this title that we all want. So it’s always good to be having these performances and getting better, adapting more and being able to play better with my teammates here, so I can take that to the national team as well.
Question: There were a couple of changes in the lineup tonight with Julie and Ally, how you felt playing with them for a longer period of time tonight.
Adriana: Ally and Julie are great players. It’s always great to be playing with them. And also getting in sync with us playing together, knowing where everyone is and having more time playing together. And they’re really fast as well. So it’s good for us to have this counterattack that’s really fast with myself, with Marta, with Julie with Ally so we can create opportunities and then we can capitalize on them to be able to win games.
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