England women's and men's football teams receiving equal pay since January, fans applaud

England's Football Association (FA) revealed this week that the FA has been paying the men's and women's football team the same amount. As per their statement to the British media, when the men's and women's teams play for the country, they pay them the same amount of appearance money. According to the FA's statement, the equal pay for major tournaments for men's football and women's football has been implemented since January. 

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England announces equal pay in football for men's and women's football team

A day before the FA's announcement, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) announced that they will now pay players who compete on a national level the same amount of money regardless of gender. Australia, Norway and New Zealand are other countries who are paying their men's and women's football teams equally. As per reports, players receive an approximate payment of £2,000, which is donated by most players. 

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“The FA pays its women’s players exactly the same as their male counterparts for representing England, both in terms of match fees and match bonuses,” read the FA's statement, while adding that the "parity has been in place since January 2020". CBF chief Rogerio Caboclo's statement was similar to the FA's, revealing that they are treating men and woman equally, which means there is no difference due to an athlete's gender. 

Fans react to England offering equal pay to men and women's football teams

Neither of them should get paid anything to play for their country....honour alone should be enough. Any money should go to charities across the country to people who actually need it

— Aron Spencer (@AronSpencer7) September 3, 2020

The Women’s team have been far more successful, so if anything they deserve more money.

Pay should be based on performance and the women’s team have performed at a higher level in recent years.

— John Pimms (@JPPJC17) September 3, 2020

Women’s football generates nowhere near the amount the men’s football does don’t get it at all

— Sandy Hollas 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (@SandyHollasAFC) September 3, 2020

Nonsense. They both don't generate equal revenue.

— Tolu (@LuxyTee) September 3, 2020

It’s the FA’s decision (their employer) if they get the same pay or not it doesn’t make a difference since men give all to charity

— Juan Fer Rivera (@jfrivera2000) September 3, 2020

While fans appreciated the FA's decision about equal pay in football for England's players, they pointed out that the money earned by men's and women's football players varies in reference to prizes offered by FIFA and UEFA. According to reports, if the women's football team had won the World Cup in 2019, they would have earned £50,000 ($66409.75) each by the FA. However, the men's football team would have earned £217,000 ($288218.32) each during the 2018 World Cup. Additionally, FIFA offered $30 million for the women's World Cup, while the men were offered a whopping $400 million. 

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The differences continue for leagues like the Women's Super League, where a player earns £20,000 ($26565.90) on an average. In comparison, the Premier League salary stands at above $3 million according to a Global Sports Salary Survey in December 2019. The battle for equal pay was highlighted last year when 28 women players from the USWNT (US Women's National Team) sued US Soccer on the basis of gender discrimination.

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(Image credits: Lionesses Instagram)