England Women Players Disappointed and Frustrated with FA over Performance-Related Bonuses

England Women’s national football team players have expressed their disappointment and frustration with the Football Association (FA) due to a breakdown in talks concerning performance-related bonuses.

According to The Guardian, The squad has been informed that they will not receive performance-related bonuses for their participation in the upcoming Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The players believe that the FA is exploiting the introduction of individual fees set by Fifa as an excuse to avoid providing bonuses for their contributions to the federation during the tournament.

Background and Context

Previously, the distribution of funds from Fifa to federations provided the federations with discretionary power to determine whether or not to pass on a portion of that money to the players.

However, Fifa recently announced a change in policy, stating that specified amounts will be allocated to players for their participation in the World Cup.

Each player competing in the group stage will receive $30,000 (£24,000), with the amount increasing as the tournament progresses, reaching $270,000 for players in the winning team.

The FA’s position is that the money allocated to players by Fifa, in collaboration with the global players’ union Fifpro, comes from the same funding pool that would have been given to the FA, and from which the FA would have made its own payments.

They argue that Fifa has simply specified the amount that must be allocated to players from the overall prize pot to ensure fair compensation for all tournament participants.

However, it should be noted that the overall pool of money available to federations and players has significantly increased from $30 million to $110 million.

According to a source close to the players, the FA had initially led them to believe that performance-related bonuses would be introduced. However, the recent Fifa announcement seems to have triggered a change in the FA’s stance, resulting in an unwillingness to negotiate over what the players deem to be a reasonable request.

Comparison to Other Federations and Additional Grievances

It has come to light that several other federations with collective bargaining agreements, such as the United States, have separate performance-related bonus arrangements in place, in addition to the funds allocated by Fifa. This discrepancy further fuels the disappointment among England Women’s national team players.

Although the players receive £10,000 each to assist their families in attending the tournament, a practice aligned with the support provided to the men’s team during major competitions, recent measures have limited the players’ individual earning potential in the lead-up to the World Cup.

As of 17th June, players have been prohibited from making physical appearances for their personal sponsors, while from 5th July, they will be unable to participate in social media promotions.

These restrictions have added to the dissatisfaction within the team, as they believe that the commercial strategy surrounding the team fails to adequately recognize their commercial value.