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The prize money for the Women's World Cup is just 7.5 per cent of the men's.

 

Tomorrow morning at 5:00 am Australian time, the Matildas will verse former world champions Norway in the knockout round of the Women’s World Cup.

A loss against Italy in game one may not have been part of the plan, but after a stirring come back win against powerhouses Brazil, and a comfortable victory against Jamaica, the Matildas start tomorrow’s match as deserved favourites against Norway in their round-of-16 clash.

Their campaign thus far has been solid.

And just by winning one game, our national women’s team has managed to do what the Socceroos could not last year in the Men’s World Cup.

Yet the Socceroos made considerably higher earnings than the Matildas.

Just for qualifying in the FIFA World Cup, the Socceroos pocketed US$8 million.

Meanwhile, for arriving to the knockout round of the Word Cup, the Matildas are awarded just US$1 million.

 

matildas vs brazil world cup
The Matildas start tomorrow's match as deserved favourites against Norway in their round-of-16 clash. Image: Getty.
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Even if the Matildas win the tournament, and become the world champions, they would receive just US$4 million. That is exactly half of what the Socceroos made despite not winning a match.

And even then, the players' collective bargaining agreement with Football Federation Australia means they take home just 30 per cent of that US$4 million, or US$52,173.92 per player on average. The rest goes to the FFA.

The total prize money? Just 7.5 per cent of the men's.

The prize money for 2018 Men's World Cup was US$400 million. For the 2019 Women's World Cup, where games are of equal length to Men's, it's just US$30 million. In other words, 7.5 per cent.

Seven point five.

That's a gap of US$370 million (AU$533 million).

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Whilst this prize money has been doubled since the last Women's World Cup, it evidently remains a long way from equal.

John Didulica, CEO of Professional Footballers Australia, recently said on The Project, "By having this disparity in prize money, they are engaging in gender discrimination."

And appearing on Fox Sports, Didulica refuted the argument that these winnings are based on revenue profitability, stating: "The obvious reaction to [the pay disparity] is that is all based on commercial metrics, but that’s not how FIFA have been calculating the amounts of prize money.

"For the most part, it’s an opaque political process where an arbitrary figure is allocated to the tournament. What we’re after is greater transparency, greater accountability and for FIFA to use the opportunity to genuinely invest in women’s football."

Indeed, the Matildas are fighting the inequality, with the 'Our Goal is Now' campaign, launched by PFA, that aims to highlight the pay gap.

Because at the current momentum, it will take until 2039 to become equal.

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For everyone who says women's sport is boring, you must've missed the Matildas last night.