September 22 – England’s Lionesses, have reached an agreement with the FA over pay and bonuses, England defender Millie Bright, standing in as captain for the injured Leah Williamson, revealed in a media interview.
Original concerns regarding the players’ wage were expressed prior to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, where the Lionesses fought hard for a second-place finish after losing out to Spain in the final.
Speaking ahead of the Lionesses’ clash with Scotland tonight, Bright said: “We’ve had a really good conversation with the FA and expressed that we want to be world leaders both on and off the pitch. That conversation was needed and the conversations will be ongoing between the leadership team and the FA. We’re really positive that, moving forward, things will be different. Overall it was very good.”
“The women’s game is evolving very quickly and conversations like this need to happen in order to make sure that, in all areas, we’re at the top of our game,” the Chelsea centre-back said. “As players, we feel really confident moving forward with the structure we now have in place.”
Tensions flared between the players and the FA after FIFA revealed plans to directly compensate World Cup participants, with pay outs ranging from $30,000 to $270,000 for winning team members. The issue, that had stirred controversy in the lead-up to the tournament, was the FA’s decision not to provide England’s team with extra performance bonus payments alongside the fees they would receive directly from FIFA.
The details of the agreement have not been released.
FIFA had introduced a specific financial provision aimed at all World Cup players, resulting in an allocation of $195,000 per England squad member, considering their status as runners-up.
As World Cup champions, Spain’s football federation was due to receive a substantial $4.29 million, while the English FA was set to secure just over $3 million as part of the World Cup distribution.
Sarina Wiegman, England manager, expressed her eagerness to shift the focus back to the game of football.
“The conversations had been going really well but the World Cup was ahead of us, so they needed to stop and then start up after the World Cup,” she said.
“They didn’t come to an agreement then but the connections were made and there was communication all the time. Now this is solved, we move forward and it looks really good.”
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1734836239labto1734836239ofdlr1734836239owedi1734836239sni@g1734836239niwe.1734836239yrrah1734836239