SYDNEY (AP) — FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Friday that the Women’s World Cup has “broken even” after generating more than $570 million in revenue but dismissed suggestions for equal prize money with the men’s World Cup.
The current World Cup prize pools sit at $110 million for women and $440 million for men. Infantino has consistently played down calls for equal payments.
On Friday, he suggested demands for equal prize money were a “slogan” that “would not solve anything.”
“Some voices were raised, where it cost too much, we don’t make enough revenues, we will have to subsidize,” Infantino said at the FIFA Women’s Football Convention.
“And our opinion was, ‘Well, if we have to subsidize, we will subsidize’, because we have to do that. But actually, this World Cup generated over $570 million in revenues, and so we broke even.”
Infantino said FIFA didn’t lose money “and we generated the second-highest income of any sport, besides of course the men’s World Cup, at a global stage.”
“More than half a billion. There are not many competitions, even in men’s football, who generate more than half a billion.”
Infantino urged broadcasters and sponsors to “pay a fair price” for women’s soccer - “to women’s football in general in all the countries, in all the leagues, in all the competitions.”
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