where are we on the question of salaries between players of the France team?

If the French women’s football team wins Euro 2022, its players will receive a bonus of €60,000. An amount much lower than that of men if they had won Euro 2021. However, the French Football Federation plans to redistribute 30% of the sum paid by UEFA to players and staff, as is the case for boys.

This is a question that is systematically addressed when approaching a major competition. How much will the winner get? The answer is all the more scrutinized when it comes to a women’s competition, like Euro 2022, which begins this Wednesday in England. The players of Corinne Deacon, whose entry into the running is scheduled for Sunday against Italy, will receive a maximum of 60,000 euros per head according to our information. An amount much lower than that which Kylian Mbappé’s teammates would have received if they had gone to the end of the Euro last year (300,000 euros) but also higher than the 24,000 euros previously mentioned. How to explain such a difference?

To understand, we must first look at the status of the players in the selection. Unlike the Americans, who obtained equal pay a few months ago, Wendie Renard’s teammates are not salaried within the Federation. The players are linked with private clubs and made available to the French team for international matches. They therefore receive participation bonuses.

A staffing gap at UEFA level

It therefore seems impossible, for reasons of labor law, to impose a minimum wage on private companies that employ female footballers and remunerate them according to sponsorship contracts, which are always lower than those of male teams. French players also benefit from bonuses paid by the FFF and their amounts remain indexed to the amount that the body receives for participation and their performance in a competition.

Les Bleues have the same bonus system as their male counterparts. It was Noël Le Graët, president of the French Football Federation, who wanted to set it up. Qualification bonuses were negotiated before the competition.

For the Women’s Euro, UEFA pays 2.08 million euros to the winner of the competition, according to L’Équipe. Endowments based on sponsorship, ticketing and TV rights. A sum almost twice as high compared to the 2017 edition but less important than the winner of Euro 2021 for boys (28.5 million euros). In detail, each victory in the group stage is worth 100,000 euros, and 50,000 euros for a draw. Each team that qualifies for the quarter-finals will receive an additional 205,000 euros, and 320,000 euros for the four semi-finalists. The winner will receive an additional 660,000 euros and the runner-up 420,000 euros.

The principle of equity applied by the FFF

On the other hand, the French Football Federation applies the same rule for its men’s and women’s teams: donate 30% of UEFA and sponsors’ allocations to the players, as well as to the staff. The final sum will therefore necessarily be different since the range is not the same.

Unprecedented among women, UEFA has introduced the payment of a bonus to clubs that provide players aligned to the Euro, for an amount of 4.5 million euros. This compensation mechanism has existed for men since 2008. Concretely, each club will receive 500 euros per player and per day on which she will be mobilized, including ten days of preparation before the competition and one day after for the return trip, which guarantees the minimum 10,000 euros per player for each club.

What are the other selections doing?

On the side of the United States, the quadruple world champions won their case in their quest for equal pay with the men’s team, after long months of negotiations. A few days ago, the Spanish Federation announced, through the voice of its president Luis Rubiales, that it would pay the same amounts, in terms of bonuses and image rights, to the women’s and men’s teams.

In 2020, England and Brazil had taken a first step towards equality by receiving the same sums as the men’s team. The two selections then followed the path of Australia and New Zealand, the pioneers in this field. Norway also followed suit, despite the anger of Ada Hegerberg, who had decided to withdraw from the selection to denounce the unequal treatment. The Ballon d’Or returned to selection just before the Euro, adding that she does not « regret » her previous decision.