FIFA Women: Australia's female footballers have called for the governing bodies of the sport to further invest in the women's game on the eve of the historic home FIFA Women's World Cup.
In a video released on Monday in collaboration with the Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), the 23 members of the Matildas squad put pressure on FIFA to guarantee equal prize money for the men's and women's World Cups, reports Xinhua.
Under the collective bargaining agreement with Football Australia (FA), Matildas and Socceroos players receive the same minimum percentage of prize money for their performance at tournaments.
However, the total prize pool for the Women's World Cup is about one quarter of that for the men's tournament, according to players.
"Those that came before us showed us that being a Matilda means something," captain Sam Kerr said in the video.
"They showed us how to fight for recognition, validation, and respect."
The video was released three days before Australia face the Republic of Ireland in their opening game of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
The tournament in Australia and New Zealand will be the first Women's World Cup to feature 32 teams, and the first senior World Cup ever held in Oceania.
In addition to targeting FIFA, players also called for Australian football administrators to capitalize on the momentum generated by the tournament by making the A-League Women (the top-division women's football league in Australia) competition full-time and involving more women in all aspects of the sport.
"We call on those in positions of power across football, business and politics to come on the journey with us to make women's football as big as it can be, here and around the world," player Hayley Raso said.