Women’s World Cup: Advert calls for equal prizes

Brisbane, Australia –

Days out from the start of the Women’s World Cup, teams are ramping up pressure on sports governing bodies and spectators to pay equal pay and respect to female players.

An advertisement by telecom company Orange and the French national team using visual effects to draw attention to the quality of women’s play is spreading quickly on social networks.

And on Monday, members of the Australia national team released their own video making a fuss about FIFA’s failure to award women the same prize money as men.

Australia and New Zealand are co-organizers of the tournament that kicks off on Thursday, while New Zealand will take on Norway at Eden Park.

The total prize pool for the women’s tournament has increased to $150 million this year, but it’s still only about a third of the $440 million awarded to the winners of the Men’s World Cup in Qatar last year. The players say it’s not enough.

FIFA said last month that it was determined to close the pay gap announced a new payment model that it offers every Women’s World Cup player “guaranteed remuneration for their performance”.

But the Orange video proves popular by pointing out that, despite the wage differences, the women are just as skilled as the men.

DO PERCEPTIONS

According to trading sitesOrange and French creative agency Marcel sought to overturn the preconceptions that “all too often surround the players” – that the women’s game is less skilled and exciting than the men’s game.

“Many football fans, without ever watching women’s football, have strong opinions about the level of the players,” said the marketing communication news magazine.

For the Orange ad, producers spent weeks combing the archives of the French Football Federation looking for technical moves by the France women’s national team before searching for their “exact replicas” during the men’s match.

The videos are clipped together with dramatic music and screaming fans to give the impression of a male highlight role.

It is revealed at the end that viewers have been watching members of the women’s team.

The assumption that women’s sports are inferior to men’s, and thus deserving of less investment and reward, has long been a problem perpetuated by misogynistic attitudes among some fans.

In 2022, a survey of 1,950 male football fans in the United Kingdom by Durham University found that “overtly misogynistic attitudes” still dominate football fandom.

Those with misogynistic attitudes viewed women’s sports as inferior and its coverage as “affirmative action” or “PC nonsense.” author Stacey Pope wrote for the talk.

“Simply increasing the visibility of women is not enough to end sexism and misogyny in sport,” she wrote. “What we need to achieve equality and justice on and off the field is a gender revolution.”

MATILDAS CALLS FOR EQUAL PRIZE MONEY

In their own video, the 23 members of the Australian Matildas team sum up their predecessors’ challenges and achievements in securing better working conditions, but say the job is not done yet.

“Seven hundred and thirty-six footballers have the honor of representing their country on the biggest stage of this tournament. Yet many are still denied the basic right to organize and bargain collectively,” the players said in a video statement shared on Twitter.

“Collective bargaining has ensured that we are navigating on the same terms as the Socceroos (the men’s team), with one exception. FIFA will still only offer women a quarter of the prize money as men for the same performance,” the players added.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino says the governing body’s “ambition” is to award the same prize money at the next World Cups in 2026 and 2027, but the Australian players want confirmation that this will happen.

Last month, FIFA has announced a record prize pool for the winning teams, along with payments for each athlete who participates. Each player will receive a minimum of $30,000 for reaching the group stage, with members of the winning team taking home $270,000 each.

FIFA says the payments will have a “meaningful impact” on the players’ lives and careers, but notes that the annual global salary of professional female soccer players is around $14,000.

“In addition, all member associations will also receive a record performance-based financial payment, which they can use to reinvest in football in their country and which we believe will help to further boost the women’s game,” added FIFA to it.

In May, Infantino bemoaned the low media rights offers for the tournament, saying: “Broadcasters pay $100 to $200 million for the men’s FIFA World Cup, but they only offer $1 to $10 million for the FIFA Women’s World Cup ..”

At the time, he said offers were a “slap in the face of all great FIFA Women’s World Cup players and indeed all women worldwide.”

The Matildas video showed how difficult it is for players rising through the ranks to make a living.

“Our elite women’s sisters are still pushing for sports to become a full-time career so they don’t have to work part-time jobs,” they said, calling on fans to support those players and the next generation of Matildas. .

“We call on those who run the game to work to provide opportunities for girls and women in football, whether they be players, coaches, administrators or officials,” they said.

“And we call on everyone in positions of power in football, business and politics to join us on this journey to maximize women’s football here and around the world.”