England’s Lionesses have finally reached an agreement with the Football Association over World Cup bonuses after players were forced to pause discussions during the tournament.
Sarina Wiegman’s squad had been at loggerheads with the governing body before they travelled to Australia after they had been told they would not receive bonuses on top of FIFA payments for taking part in the tournament.
Each member of the World Cup squad received around £150,000 each for reaching the final after FIFA introduced a new pay structure which saw players directly compensated. Previously, it was up to federations as to whether they would distribute prize money to players.
But the Lionesses were unhappy that the FA were failing to match the United States and Australia – who were paying bonuses to their players on top of FIFA’s payments.
Discussions over bonuses were paused before England’s opening game, with players deciding to focus on football, but resumed ahead of this month’s Nations League fixtures with Scotland and the Netherlands.
England’s Lionesses have finally reached an agreement with the Football Association over World Cup bonuses
Sarina Wiegman’s team had been locked in talks with the FA over World Cup bonus payments
Discussions over bonuses were paused before England’s opening game at the World Cup
An agreement, which was negotiated directly between the FA and players, has now been reached but vice-captain Millie Bright insisted bonus payments was not the only issue up for discussion.
‘We have come to an agreement, but I think it is bigger than just the bonus,’ Bright said.
‘We have had a really good conversation with the FA and expressed that we want to be world leaders, both on and off the pitch. We had a really positive conversation and I think that conversation was needed.
‘The conversations will be ongoing moving forward between the leadership team and the FA, with the support of the PFA, and we are really positive that moving forward things will be different. But it was overall very, very good.
‘As we know the women’s game is evolving very quickly and conversations like this need to happen in order to make sure in all areas we are at the top of our game.
‘The conversation was extremely positive and as players we feel really confident moving forward about the structure we now have in place.’
Bright did not say whether England would push for a collective bargaining agreement, which the United States and Australia have in place, but it is understood that players were keen for this to be implemented during the World Cup.
England vice-captain Millie Bright revealed ongoing talks were ‘positive’
‘It is more than just finances,’ Bright continued. ‘It is everything to do with the next generation.
‘I mean to be honest we are extremely lucky and privileged that we have amazing facilities and we already set the tone in many areas.
‘I think also those conversations are also just about checking in, and like Sarina [Wiegman] said it is about building those relationships, so that if a problem does pop up then we are in a position where we can have an open and honest conversation and be more solution-based.
‘And that’s why we felt really positive from that conversation as players because we want to be more solution-based moving forward and I just feel lucky that we are in position to come together and, one – come to an agreement, but actually moving forward we are building a new structure where we can have more of that open dialogue so that everything stays where it needs to be.
‘I think moving forward our aim, as female footballers, is to make sure these conversations don’t have to happen, and we keep moving the game in a place where it kind of takes care of itself.’
