Women need to ‘convince us men’ on sport equality, says FIFA President Gianni Infantino

In a speech ahead of the Women’s World Cup final, FIFA President Gianni Infantino told female players to “push” for equality in the sport themselves.

“I say to all the women that you have the power to change,” Infantino said Friday at the FIFA Women’s Football Convention in Australia. “Pick the right battles. Pick the right fights. You have the power to change.

“You have the power to convince us men what we have to do and what we don’t have to do,” he said. “You do it, just do it.”

Infantino also criticized calls for equal pay in the Women’s World Cup compared to the men’s. He said it is a “slogan” that comes up “every now and then.”

A fund for the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this year covering prize money, team preparation and payments to players’ clubs came out to $152 million. This is in stark contrast to the total prize money for the men’s tournament in Qatar last year, which was $440 million.

Norwegian women’s national team player Ada Hegerberg responded sarcastically to Infantino’s comments in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Working on a little presentation to convince men,” she quipped in her post. “Who’s in?”