U.S.A. Wins FIFA Women’s World Cup, Receives 5.7 Percent of Men’s First-Place Prize
The Gist:
The U.S. team won its third FIFA Women’s World Cup title July 5, beating Japan 5–2. In the most watched soccer match in American history, the team scored four goals within the first 16 minutes of the match starting.
In what some news media called a “game of a life,” team captain Carli Lloyd scored three goals, including a kick from the mid-field, more than 50 meters from the goal.
Despite the big numbers associated with the final match — including turf temperatures going as high as 150 degrees Fahrenheit — the women’s team was paid $2 million for its victory — 5.7 percent of the $35 million the German men’s team won as victors of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
5.7 percent? You’re kidding.
The difference in prize money, and wages, is one of the most significant ways the women’s world cup differs from the men’s.
In a December 2014 press conference, FIFA Secretary Jerome Valcke said, “The comparison between the prize money of the men’s World Cup in Brazil to the women’s World Cup in Canada, that’s not even a question I will answer because it is nonsense … We are still another 23 World Cups before potentially women should receive the same amount as men.”
Ultraviolet, a grassroots community group focused on improving women’s rights and fighting sexism, has started a petition in an effort to “force FIFA to start respecting women and end its discriminatory pay practice.”
What are the other big numbers associated with this world cup’s final?
- Highest number of views from the U.S. for a soccer match, ever: 25.4 million television viewers.
- First hat-trick scored in a Women’s World Cup final: Carli Lloyd scored her team’s first three goals within the first 16 minutes of the match against Japan.
- Largest authenticated streaming audience in FOX Sports GO’s history: 232,000 unique streamers
- The temperature of the playing field: 120 degrees Fahrenheit
Did I read that right? The playing field was 120 degrees hot? Why?
Because it is made up of a combination of rubber and plastic, artificial turf heats up more than natural grass does. Just before the kickoff of the opening match between Canada and China, the temperature of the artificial turf was recorded at 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius).
As if the temperature wasn’t bad enough, the players also had to deal with rubber pellets from the turf. Players would find the pellets in their shorts, bras, hair or even nose after matches. A Swedish player told the New York Times that some of them would wrap athletic tape around their feet before a match to prevent blisters. And when they removed the tape, they found — you guessed it — rubber pellets from the artificial turf.
The Women’s World Cup was the first to be played entirely on artificial turf, which 2012 Women’s World Player of the Year, Abby Wambach, argued would not have happened for a men’s world cup.
In October 2014, a group of players sued FIFA and Canada Soccer Association on the grounds that the use of artificial turf counts as gender discrimination according to Canada’s human rights code. The players were supported in their demands by nine U.S. Senators, who sent a letter to FIFA requesting them to work with the players. However, they withdrew their case in January 2015 since the tournament was less than six months away and FIFA refused to negotiate with the players.
