Republic of Ireland players will earn at least €28,000 from participation in next month’s World Cup. The outright tournament winners will receive €250,000 each.
Fifa, soccer’s governing body, has increased the overall prize money to €102.8 million, a giant leap from the €28 million on offer at France 2019.
Ireland kicks off Group B against hosts Australia in Sydney on July 20th.
The FAI and other associations can bring up to 50 people to the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, to ensure identical “conditions and service levels” to what Qatar delivered during the men’s tournament in 2022, according to The Athletic.
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Should Vera Pauw’s team exit at the group stages, where they are in a tough group with Australia, Canada and Nigeria, the FAI and players will share €2.1 million. This figure increases by almost €1 million for each round thereafter with the champions banking €9.8 million, with €5.57 million split among the 23 players.
Fifpro, the global players union, noted that direct player compensation at the women’s World Cup represents “tremendous global collective action by over 150 national team players” following “constructive” negotiations with Fifa. “They have listened to the voice of the players and we have taken steps towards greater gender equity in our game at its highest levels.”
Fifa’s total pay out is €142 million, the Guardian reports, with €102.8 million going into the performance-based fund and the rest spent on club benefits programme and preparation money for all 32 countries.
Argentina, captained by Lionel Messi, received €41 million from a €411 million pot after winning last year’s World Cup. A day before the final against France, Fifa president Gianni Infantino announced record revenue of $7.6 billion. This allowed the organisation to pay Mr Infantino a €630,000 annual bonus on top of his €3 million salary.
Pauw announces the Ireland training squad on Friday.
