UEFA Football Championship and the gender pay gap

The 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship began in Manchester on Wednesday evening. Of the 16 participating countries, 11 federations have announced that they will pay their women teams the same bonuses as their male counterparts after a long battle for equal pay by women in the US and Norway in particular. But is this enough?

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El Periódico de Catalunya (ES) /

Recognition extends beyond the pitch

El Periódico de Catalunya is proud of the progress women's football has made in Spain and Europe:

“Working conditions are improving. Thanks to the recent agreement of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, for example, which aims to create equal conditions for the men's and women's national teams. Salaries will not be the same, but they will receive the same percentages of the prizes received from Uefa and Fifa. ... Their recognition enriches the world of sport and benefits society as a whole.”

Keskisuomalainen (FI) /

In no other field would this be tolerated

Keskisuomalainen complains about the glaring pay gap between male and female footballers:

“In terms of the number of championships played, the Finland national women's football team has done much better than the men's team. ... In terms of pay, however, the situation is very different. The women get almost 100,000 euros less than the men for their participation in the European Championship. ... In no other area of society would such unequal treatment be accepted. But here we're talking about football, where assessments of the value of tournaments is based on the interest for TV rights and other commercial marketing opportunities.”

Kleine Zeitung (AT) /

Football at its finest

Women's football is about sport and not money, Kleine Zeitung comments with delight:

“The players are professionals, earning their money with the sport they love. And in return they spread their own joy on the pitch, because they're far removed from the salaries of millions that are common among the men. Instead they show passion, commitment and willpower in every phase of the game and with every fibre of their being. ... Anyone who picks up the remote control and pays full attention to the games will see: this is football at its finest.”