USA forward Alex Morgan stated on Tuesday that a recent FIFA initiative to directly distribute prize money to players in the Women’s World Cup will contribute to creating a fairer competition.
This will be Morgan’s fourth appearance in the tournament, which is set to begin on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand. In a groundbreaking move, FIFA will ensure that each player participating in the World Cup receives a minimum payment of $30,000, marking the first time prize money is distributed to individuals rather than national federations.
The winning team’s members will each receive $270,000 as part of a prize pool totaling $110 million, which is approximately three times higher than in 2019. However, this amount is still considerably lower than the $440 million prize fund offered at the men’s tournament in Qatar last year.
“FIFA has actually done – surprisingly coming out of my mouth – a very good job at increasing the prize money,” Morgan told reporters on Tuesday at a pre-tournament media day.
“We still have a ways to go, but having them direct payments to the players is huge. I mean, it’s a life-changing thing for some of these players entering the tournament.
“So coming away with each player making at least $30,000 is huge.”
Last year, the US men’s and women’s teams reached significant collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) with US Soccer. These agreements ensure that both teams receive equal pay and prize money, even at World Cups.
The CBAs also establish identical performance-based bonuses for all games and competitions. These agreements were reached after a long-standing dispute between the women’s team and the federation regarding equal pay was resolved.
“With US Soccer, we have in our contract equal prize money between the men and the women, which is a shared pot. And that’s the only federation in the world that does that,” Morgan said.
“We’re very happy that we fought for that and were able to attain that. Now it’s up to FIFA and the other federations to do their part.”
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