FIFA president offers tone-deaf thoughts on women’s prize money

As the 2023 Women’s World Cup gets ready to get underway, FIFA president Gianni Infantino is meeting with the press to answer questions.

Well, he’ll answer those questions eventually.

There’s a loud conversation happening around the World Cup related to the prize money that the women receive. The total prize money for the 32 participating nations equals $110 million, which sounds like a lot. However, the total purse at the most recent men’s tournament was $440 million.

The winning team at the Women’s World Cup will get $10.5 million, with $6.21 million going to players and the rest to their federation.

Many players and national teams have spoken out about the pay disparity between the women and me, including the Australia women’s national soccer team, which recently called on FIFA to commit to equal prize money for both tournaments.

So what did Infantino have to say about it on Tuesday? He said that he wouldn’t talk about it yet.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino was asked about the women getting less prize money than the men for the World Cup, but he doesn't want to talk about it until after the Women's World Cup ends on Aug. 20th. pic.twitter.com/qk8DQxP9BJ

— Caitlin Murray (@caitlinmurr) July 19, 2023

“Until the 20th of August, you will hear from me only positive things,” said Infantino, who went on to say that while others might not be happy with the situation but, “I am happy with everything and I love everyone.”

A pretty tone-deaf response from the man in charge of FIFA. To be fair, when has the man in charge of FIFA not responded to these kinds of situations in a tone-deaf manner?

[Caitlin Murray]