Sports

FIFA president, Infantino calls for ‘full equality’ in football

Published

9 months ago

August 18, 2023

FIFA president Gianni Infantino

FIFA president, Infantino calls for ‘full equality’ in football

FIFA president Gianni Infantino feels equal pay at the Men’s and Women’s World Cups would only be a “symbol” that would not “solve anything” ,if additional development targets for the women game are not achieved.

England will play Spain in the final for an increased prize pot of $110 million for this tournament, more than three times than what was on offer for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.

This is still significantly less than the $440 million awarded at the 2022 men’s competition in Qatar.

Infantino had outlined ambitions for prize parity by the 2026 and 2027 World Cups, but two days before the conclusion of the ninth edition of the women’s showpiece, challenged stakeholders to do more.

Infantino said, “let’s really go for a full equality. Not just equal pay in the World Cup, which is a slogan that comes up every now and then.

“Equal pay in the World Cup, we are going in that direction already.”

“But that would not solve anything. It might be a symbol but it would not solve anything, because it’s one month every four years and it’s a few players out of the thousands and thousands of players.

“We need to keep the momentum. We need to push it. We need to go for equality but we have to do it for real.”

Two months before the tournament, Infantino threatened that he may be “forced not to broadcast” the World Cup in Europe’s ‘big five’ countries.

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This followed what he felt were “very disappointing and simply not acceptable” offers from broadcasters, though deals were eventually done.

Viewing figures have broken records in Australia, where a peak 11.5 million people – about 46 per cent of the population – tuned in to watch the Matildas play England in their semi-final.

The match was the country’s most-watched television programme of any kind since 2001 when the existing rating system was established.

In the UK, the 7.3 million people who viewed the same contest on BBC One comprised the country’s largest audience of the World Cup so far.

On Friday Infantino reiterated his view that broadcasters have a part to play in the prize parity target.

The 2023 tournament was expanded to 32 teams, and is also the first time the competition has been hosted by more than one country.

Infantino said, “some voices were raised, where it cost too much, we don’t make enough revenues, we will have to subsidise.”

“And our opinion was, well if we have to subsidise, we will subsidise, because we have to do that.”

“But actually, this World Cup generated over $570 million in revenues, and so we broke even.

“We didn’t lose any money and we generated the second highest income of any sport, besides the men’s World Cup, at a global stage.

The decision to include more teams initially drew skepticism that it would only highlight the disparity between lower-ranked teams, and heavily-resourced nations at the top of the table.

Instead, this has been one of the most competitive finals on record, guaranteed a new champion after 2011 champions Japan were eliminated at the quarter-final stage.

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One round after double-defending title holders the United States were sent packing in the Round of 16.

World number four England managed just one goal against tournament debutants Haiti, 49 places below them in FIFA’s world rankings.

Debutants Morocco advanced alongside Jamaica, who were knocked out in the group stage in their only other appearance in a final.

Three top-10 sides in Germany, Canada and Brazil were eliminated in the group stage, while England’s quarter-final opponents Colombia advanced to the last eight for the first time.

Breakout performances at this World Cup could lead some players to more lucrative contracts in places like Europe and the United States.

FIFA’s most recent benchmarking report revealed the average league and club salaries for women worldwide was just $14,000.

Infantino demanded, “football in general, in all the leagues and all the competitions, pay a fair price.

“Show that you respect women and women’s sport. You will see the feedback that will be absolutely fantastic.”

“We need to have more local competitions, more continental competitions, more international competitions because when you see some of the beautiful, stories that were written at this World Cup.”

“We need to create the conditions in the next four years for them to able to play at professional level at home. This is the biggest challenge we have to take onboard.”

(NAN)

Related Topics:equality fifa Football Infantino

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Amusan sets new world record in 100m hurdles

World record holder, Tobi Amusan is now the fastest woman in the women’s 100m hurdles this year after running a blistering 12.40s to win the inaugural Jamaica Athletics Invitational in Kingston, winning the race ahead of Jamaican and world champion, Danielle Williams.

For most of the race, Amusan was behind reigning world champion Danielle Williams and America’s Nia Ali but surged ahead in the closing stages, beating the previous world-leading time of 12.42s set by Tonea Marshall of the USA on April 20.

The world record holder claimed the victory ahead of Williams, the world champion, who ran a season’s best 12.46 seconds, and American Christina Clemons, who was third with 12.54 seconds.

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The Nigerian has now taken over the world lead from American Tonea Marshall, who had run 12.42 seconds in late April.

Another Jamaican athlete, Yanique Thompson, secured fourth in 12.59s, while Ali slipped to fifth with a time of 12.65s.

Amusan and other prominent athletes snubbed the Doha Diamond League to attend the Jamaica Invitational.

The Nigerian ended last season on a high by winning the Diamond League in Eugene, Oregon, for a third consecutive time, silencing critics about her disappointing performance at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, where she placed fifth and lost the title to Williams.

Amusan’s latest win comes two months before the Paris 2024 Olympics.

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Chelsea beat Forest to retain hope of European football

Published

15 hours ago

May 12, 2024

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Chelsea beat Forest to retain hope of European football

Two quickfire goals saw Chelsea come from behind to beat Nottingham Forest 3-2, earning their first win from the four head-to-heads since the Reds were promoted to the Premier League.

There was a party atmosphere at the City Ground with defeats for Luton Town and Burnley during the three o’clock kick-offs leaving Forest all but safe. Chris Wood almost added to that when he was released behind early on, but Đorđe Petrović stood tall enough to stop the striker’s lofted effort.

Chelsea weren’t in the mood to enjoy that party as they chase European football, and having been so important to the Blues’ ambitions, Cole Palmer slid through a perfectly-weighted pass for Mykhailo Mudryk to run onto and calmly finish to end his 10-game goalless run across all competitions.

It took just eight minutes for the hosts to respond, as Murillo made a lung bursting run and was fouled for a free-kick that Morgan Gibbs-White clipped towards Willy Boly, whose header went in off Conor Gallagher.

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The game’s pace eventually slowed following that blistering start but there were still opportunities, with Wood heading off-target after Petrović failed to convincingly deal with Danilo’s corner before Palmer played Nicolas Jackson through, only for the striker to be denied by Matz Sels.

Both sides pushed to go ahead and Palmer was uncharacteristically wasteful when Moisés Caicedo found him shortly after. Even so, Forest were on top and Gibbs-White was left furious after heading onto the post, especially with Wood sending his follow-up off-target, and Thiago Silva suffered a similar fate with his flicked header also hitting the woodwork.

Callum Hudson-Odoi was equally unfortunate when his curling effort cannoned off the crossbar. Undeterred on his 100th PL appearance against his former club, the winger picked out the bottom corner with a similar finish shortly after.

However, Raheem Sterling swiftly responded in a similar fashion for his fourth goal in as many appearances against Forest.

A special moment followed as Reece James marked his first appearance since December by picking out Jackson for the striker to head in the winner for a breathtaking turnaround as Chelsea earned their third consecutive victory to go level on points with sixth-placed Newcastle United in the PL table.

While Forest are tantalisingly close to safety, they must wait for survival to be mathematically confirmed.

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Accident: After brother’s death, Tijani Babangida’s son dies, wife loses eye

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15 hours ago

May 12, 2024

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Tijani Babangida

Accident: After brother’s death, Tijani Babangida’s son dies, wife loses eye

Former Nigerian international footballer, Tijjani Babangida, is facing immense sorrow as his family grapples with tragedy.

Following a fatal road accident on the Zaria-Kaduna road, which claimed the life of Tijjani’s brother, Ibrahim Babangida, his one-year-old son has succumbed to injuries sustained in the crash.

The accident occurred on Thursday, April 10, 2024, involving Tijjani, his wife, brother, son, and maid.

While Ibrahim tragically passed away at the scene, Tijjani and the other occupants were rushed to the hospital for urgent medical attention.

Sadly, Tijjani’s son lost his battle for life, succumbing to injuries sustained in the accident.

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Additionally, Tijjani’s wife suffered severe facial injuries, resulting in the loss of one of her eyes.

Both Tijjani and his wife’s injuries necessitated medical attention, with Tijjani undergoing surgery for a damaged knee and other injuries.

A close family friend expressed the profound difficulty of the situation, highlighting the emotional toll on Tijjani and his family.

He said “This is a difficult moment for our friend Tijanni and his entire family. After the death of Ibrahim, his little son, who was battling for life in the hospital with him, also passed away yesterday (Friday).

“Right now, he is traumatised by the death of his younger brother and his son, who was always with him. His wife has lost one of her eyes because a part of her face was damaged.

“The maid also suffered a fracture in her leg, the same as a young man who was hit by the ill-fated car.

“Well, Tijanni has since been transferred to a hospital in Abuja where he is to undergo surgery on his damaged knee and other injuries.

“All we can do is to pray for God to strengthen him to overcome the tragic situation,” he said.