Women's Asian Cup finalists accuse governing body over equal money
Japan celebrate winning the Women’s Asian Cup last month (Saeed Khan) Women's Asian Cup finalists Japan and Australia renewed calls Thursday for equal prize money with the men's tournament in a direct challenge to the Asian Football Confederation and accused the governing body of "ignoring" previous requests. Japan beat hosts Australia 1-0 in the final in Sydney on March 21 in front of more than 74,000 fans, the biggest crowd in the competition's history. It concluded a tournament which made global headlines after seven members of the Iran squad sought asylum after being branded "traitors" at home for refusing to sing the national anthem.
Two players remain in Australia. The prize fund for last month's Women's Asian Cup was widely reported to be $1. 8 million, the same as in 2022, compared to the $14.
8 million on offer at the men's equivalent. In February a report issued by the global footballers' union FIFPRO said the event could generate up to $82. 4 million in revenue.
A record 350,000 fans came through the turnstiles during the three weeks of the tournament. In a joint statement released by FIFPRO on Thursday, the Japan and Australia teams said: "Despite the success of this tournament it remains the lowest-paying continental tournament in the world and inequality between the men's and women's game remains. "Our pre-tournament invitation to the AFC to work together on equal prize money, a guaranteed share to all players, and to co-develop a lasting legacy has so far been ignored.
"Equal prize money would be transformational for all players and football communities across Asia. "Equal prize money would help to raise standards at all levels of the game across our region. "Equality benefits players in the short term, but football in the long term.