FIFA announce increased prize money for women's World Cup

KIGALI: FIFA are to double the prize money on offer at the women's World Cup in time for next year's tournament in France, president Gianni Infantino confirmed on Friday.

Speaking at the end of a FIFA Council meeting in the Rwandan capital Kigali, Infantino confirmed an overall contribution of $50 million for the 24 participating nations.

This is, he said, "more than three times the amount paid in 2015," when the competition was held in Canada.

"Concretely this means a 100 percent increase in prize money from 15 to $30 million," Infantino added.

The added funds also include $11.5 million to help teams organise friendly matches before the World Cup, as well as $8.5 million to reward clubs releasing players for the tournament.

Nevertheless, players union FIFPro released a statement to say that much more needed to be done towards achieving gender equality.

"Despite these changes football remains even further from the goal of equality for all World Cup players regardless of gender," it said.

"In reality, the changes actually signify an increase in the gap between men's and women's prize money. This regressive trend appears to contravene FIFA's statutory commitment to gender equality."

In comparison, the prize money for this year's 32-team men's World Cup in Russia was $400 million, a $48 million increase from 2014. That included $38 million going to the winners, France.

Next year's World Cup will be staged in France from June 7 to July 7. The 2015 tournament, won by the United States, was the first women's World Cup to involve 24 teams.