‘We cannot walk alone’: FIFA leans on broadcasters to support World Cup pay parity

FIFA wants to achieve prizemoney parity between the men’s and women’s World Cups by 2027 – but one of the world governing body’s highest-ranking officials says they can only do it if broadcasters “play their part” by spending more.

Days after FIFA president Gianni Infantino threatened a European blackout of the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, his No.2, Fatma Samoura, said “nothing has changed” in the governing body’s stand-off with TV networks which have tabled derisory bids, and directly linked the situation to the ongoing fight in football for equal pay.

FIFA secretary-general Fatma Samoura with Football Australia chief James Johnson on Monday.Credit: Getty

For the first time, FIFA is trying to commercialise the men’s and women’s World Cups separately, having previously bundled them together in negotiations with broadcasters and sponsors, but is struggling to attract the revenues they were hoping for.

Some broadcasters in Europe’s top five football nations – Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Spain – have offered what Infantino says is in some cases 10 to 100 times less than what they had paid for the last round of World Cup rights, calling the situation a slap in the face to all women worldwide, and dismissing their complaints about Australia’s unfavourable time zone.

If those networks don’t up their bids, Infantino has said FIFA will not sell the rights in those countries, although it’s believed the tournament would instead be shown on the FIFA+ streaming service rather than be withheld from fans entirely.

Samoura, a former United Nations diplomat who became FIFA’s secretary-general in 2016, said FIFA had done its bit by increasing its investment into women’s football, expanding the tournament from 24 to 32 teams, and by upping prizemoney by 300 per cent to a total package of $226 million for this Women’s World Cup.

The Women’s World Cup will be held in Australia and New Zealand in July and August.Credit: Getty

But the only way they will be able to match the $656m on offer at the last men’s World Cup in Qatar, she said, is with more corporate support.

“We have still 73 days to go before the kick-off, and I’m quite confident because Europe plays a major role in the development of women’s football that we’ll find a common ground,” Samoura told this masthead.

“I’m pretty comfortable. I think Gianni made it very clear – for women’s football, there is no way back. We have done, and we will continue to do our best to increase participation to grow the game in the four corners of the world, we have a global responsibility to really make sure also that gender disparity in football is brought to an end.

“Our next step is to be able to pay the same level of prizemoney in 2027 [as the men]. And for that we cannot walk alone.

“We’re not asking [for them] to make any sacrifices – we want the number in terms of audience, in terms of viewers, to be reflected on their approach.”

Samoura chose not to fire back at criticism from former Matilda and FIFA executive committee member Moya Dodd, who said it was FIFA’s previous packaging of World Cup rights which had trained broadcasters to value the men’s tournament and not the women’s – which Infantino, at a World Trade Organisation meeting in Geneva last week, also acknowledged was a contributing factor.

“I think everybody has a right to express himself or herself when it comes to women’s football,” Samoura said. “What I can say with determination is that FIFA is committed [to taking] women’s football to the next level, and we are showing it every day by our commitment.”

FIFA inked broadcast deals in Australia with the Seven Network and Optus Sport long ago.

Samoura, meanwhile, said Australia’s hopes of hosting the men’s World Cup in future would be boosted by a successful Women’s World Cup, revealing that more than 850,000 tickets had been sold – more than half of the 1.5 million tickets FIFA is aiming to sell.

“As Gianni would say, if you host the Women’s World Cup, the next one will be the big one,” she said, reiterating that Australia’s time zone was not a limiting factor.

“This event is taking place during the summer holidays, where most of the people in Europe, especially after the 15th of July, will be on holidays. And to me, I remember, back in ’74, I was a big boxing lover. When Muhammad Ali and [George] Foreman were boxing in Zaire ... I had to wake up at four o’clock in the morning.

“Asking people to be cheering for their team at seven o’clock in the morning, when normally they are all up in Europe, shouldn’t be a problem.”