Gender equality is what people ask for, especially in sports. Australia aims to please, giving their women the same base salary as men have. Australia is a pioneer on this front, aiming to regulate salaries to the point where men do not have such a glaringly obvious advantage in football, when it comes to the salaries.

Women’s football is followed in the world, believe it or not. Australians also care about women’s football, obviously, but their fans care even more. Cheering your favorite clubs on is nothing to be shy about, especially because some fans like to bet on their favorite clubs. Some fans go so far to find promotion and bonus codes, like the ones you can find on australian-bonus.codes. But, how did this normalization of salaries for women come to be and can we expect the same in other regions?

Australia – The Pioneer in Women’s Football

The Professional Footballers Australia, a trade union which represents Australia’s male, female and elite junior football players, is behind the normalization of women’s salaries with men’s salaries, at least the base level. This led to women’s salaries being increased a staggering 33%, becoming around 11,000 US dollars. While this is great for all women professional football players, it does not mean that they will earn more money, simply due to the fact that male players spend a lot more time on the pitch. Every hour counts, so males simply earn more.

The Deal Was Struck – What About the Future?

This is just a single year deal, which means that women will have the same salaries as men, at least the base ones, for a single year. Female cricket players are in a similar position, except that their normalized salaries will last for five years.

Unlike men, women have fewer opportunities to earn money compared to men. It is the same in cricket and football. In order for this to change, more tournaments will have to be created, especially international ones. Domestic leagues are entertaining, but everyone loves international competitions.

What About FIFA and Women’s Salaries?

Just before the 2019 Women’s World Cup, FIFA was petitioned by the PFA to increase women’s salaries. There were plenty of controversies regarding the 2019 World Cup Women’s Final due to it being scheduled at the same time as the two men’s finals in continental leagues. It wasn’t rescheduled.

The finals took place in Paris, and they were very poorly advertised, at least locally, which was another point of criticism. In other words, women’s football needs more coverage.

Women may have the same base salaries as men in Australia, but women’s football is still far from men’s football in terms of popularity and prize pools.