The historic deal, giving the chance to the Australian women’s national soccer team to earn the same as their male counterparts.
This move will help to close the gender wage gap.
The Football Federation Australia granted equal pay to the Westfield Matildas on Wednesday. The Matildas team is ranked 8th in the world while Australia’s men’s team, the Socceroos, come in 44th.
“This is a massive step taken to close the gender pay gap between the Socceroos and the Matildas,” FFA chief executive David Gallop said.
Both teams will share an equal commercial revenue now, in a previous deal Socceroos were taking a larger share of profits and also they were paid more to play, CNN reported.
The women’s team will now fly business class for international travel, the men were already traveling from business class.
The Professional Footballers Australia, who represents both the Matildas and the Socceroos team, called the deal “a commitment that is blind to gender.”
“Football is the game for everyone, and this new [Collective Bargaining Agreement] is another huge step toward ensuring that we live the values of equality, inclusivity, and opportunity,” FFA Chairman, Chris Nikou, said in a statement.
“For the first time, player remuneration will be directly tied to the revenues generated by our National Teams — this will create a sustainable financial model that incentivizes players and FFA to collaborate and grow the commercial pie together.
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“This is truly a unique agreement,” he added. “Every national team, from the Socceroos and Matildas, down to the Youth National Teams as well as the Cerebral Palsy National Teams have been contemplated in this new CBA.”
Nikou hopes “the next generation of aspiring Australian kids” can see a pathway that offers a sustainable career, they will have a chance to be an Olympian.
According to the Washington Post, the players claimed they were paid less than the men’s national team. They also claimed to receive less support from the USSF despite the fact that they played consistently well.
The USSF denied the women’s claims in court, saying that pay is “based on differences in aggregate revenue generated by the different teams and/or any other factor other than sex.”
Women’s games pulled in about $900,000 more in revenue than men’s games from 2016-18, and $1.9 million in the year after the women’s team won the World Cup in 2015. According to the Post.
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