After saying last month that it created a path for Women’s World Cup prize money to go directly to players, FIFA shared on the eve of the tournament that it is actually unable to do so. The June announcement was seen as a mechanism to reduce inequities in women’s soccer.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in June that it created a “unique redistribution model” that would ensure each player at this year’s World Cup would pocket at least $30,000 in prize money and that the players on the championship-winning team would take home $270,000. FIFA implied that the money would skip over national federations, who usually receive the prize money and are encouraged — but not always required — to distribute the funds to players.
“We have issued these recommendations, but we have an association of associations,” Infantino said, per the Associated Press. “So whatever payments we do, we will go through the associations and then the associations will, of course, make the…
