The Brazilian Confederation of Football (CBF) recently announced that men and women on the national adult teams will receive the same compensation, per diems and monetary prizes, during training periods and games.
Rogério Caboclo, president of the CBF, explained in a press conference that the equal pay decision was adopted during the first convocation for the women's team in March 2020, explaining, "What men will receive in the next World Cup will be proportionally equal to what FIFA has proposed. There is no longer a gender difference, because the CBF treats men and women equally."
Commenting on the announcement, soccer player Marta Vieira Da Silva, recognized as the best in the world in her sport on six occasions, stated to CNN Brazil, "We are very happy with this news. Regardless of whether it comes sooner or later, it’s better than never."
She added, "Prejudice and machismo end up harming the development of the sport, including investment in women's soccer so that it can provide the necessary structure to allow the athlete to devote 24 hours a day to her profession, just as is the case with the men's teams. It is important to take advantage of this moment to continue the work that many athletes and former athletes began some time ago, which is now beginning to bear fruit."
In this way, Brazil joins the small list of countries that have established parity. Federations in Norway, New Zealand and Australia agreed in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively, to guarantee equality in salaries, prizes and sponsorships for their national teams.
Nonetheless, the salary gap continues to widen. Women athletes tend to have lower salaries, fewer sponsors and less media exposure. To cite just one example, Brazil's Neymar of Paris Saint-Germain received 36.5 million euros last season, the same amount paid 1,693 female players in the French, German, English, U.S., Swedish, Australian and Mexican leagues combined.
In 2019, the world’s two best paid soccer players were Alex Morgan and Lionel Messi: the female player from the U.S. earned 408,000 euros as compared to 112 million for the male Argentinean star, according to data from the magazine L.Football. The U.S. female team, champion of the Canada-2015 World Cup, earned 1.6 million euros; while the French men’s team, winner in Russia-2018, came away with 30 million. In 2015, the Women's World Cup was the second most watched sporting event in the United States, bested only by the Super Bowl.
This phenomenon not only affects soccer, but extends to sports in general, with the sole exception of skiing. Others such as basketball have even greater differences. The U.S. women's basketball league (WNBA) is the highest paid; but, tits highest-paid athletes earns one-fifth of the lowest salary in the NBA, the men's league.
For its part, tennis has achieved parity in the prize money awarded for the four Grand Slams, although not in all its competitions. In fact, there are two women tennis players who are among the hundred highest paid athletes in 2020, according to Forbes: Naomi Osaka, recent winner of the U.S. Open, and Serena Williams, in 29th and 33rd place, respectively.
The issue has produced a wide variety of opinions. Frank de Boer, former soccer player and current coach of Atlanta United of the MLS, considers equalizing the salaries of men and women in soccer “ridiculous… since they do not generate the same in terms of rights and sponsorships". Meanwhile, Rafa Nadal believes that players should earn according to what they generate.
For his part, former runner Carl Lewis has spoken out in defense of women's right to receive the same dividends. He called Donald Trump "misogynist and racist” for evading issues of equality in sport.
While the inclusion of the CBF in the list of federations promoting equal pay represents a step forward, the road ahead is long, and progress will depend largely on consistent government policies and increased advocacy in the media.
