Football: Brazilians won the match for equal pay

Marta and her teammates celebrate a goal against Italy Foto: REUTERS / Phil Noble

Text by: Sarah-Lou Bakouche

4 min

Women footballers who wear the Brazilian jersey will now be paid as much as players in the Men's Seleção.

A major step forward in a country where football is king.

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Brazilian footballers have won a game far from won: the one for equal pay.

In Pelé's country, international female players will now be paid like their male counterparts.

The president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), Rogério Caboclo, announced Wednesday, September 2 at a press conference his decision to allocate " 

the same amount for bonuses and daily allowances for men and women

 " in selection.

The land of Pelé ... and Marta

If Brazil is the country of Ronaldo, Neymar and the five stars on the jersey… it is also that of Marta!

The great star of the women's Seleção who will therefore win as much as the players who wear the yellow and green jersey, just like her teammates.

Concretely, this means that female footballers will receive bonuses equivalent to those of footballers at the next Olympic Games, but also at the next Women's World Cup.

A principle already respected last March at the end of the Tournoi de France.

A significant advance for a country that relies on the chessboard of women's football, with a World Cup final in 2007 and two silver medals at the Olympics.

But in the country of King Pelé, where the men's Seleção holds the record for world titles, with five stars on her jersey, women's football is still struggling to find a place, despite the popularity of Marta, voted six times best player in the world.

It is this same Marta who was illustrated last June, after the defeat of Brazil against Australia (3-2) on the second day of the group stage of the World Cup.

After his goal from a penalty kick in the opener, the star celebrated by pointing to his right shoe.

She pointed to the "equal" sign that she had applied to her crampon.

See this post on Instagram

O trabalho em e o mesmo team, mas os obstáculos são muito maiores do que os que eles encontram em campo.

Não ficou claro?

To rainha @ martavsilva10 aponta o caminho: #GoEqual pela equidade no reconhecimento do #futebolfeminino.

A post shared by Go Equal (@goequal) on Jun 13, 2019 at 5:52 am PDT

The Orlando player has just won a long fight.

The one who is considered one of the biggest stars in women's football has no sponsors for one simple reason: she refuses to be paid less than a man.

A breach already opened abroad

Brazil is thus following the path traced by the Australian players, who obtained equal pay in November 2019. The Seleção is also ahead of the United States, which saw their quadruple world champions lose this match on the court, a magistrate who rejected their request for equal pay.

The Norwegian selection also remains deaf to the appeals of Ada Hegerberg's foot.

The OL striker, the first player to win the Ballon d'Or, has snubbed her selection since 2017. In the background, a deep disagreement with her Federation on the means put in place for women.

However, equal pay in selection remains a primarily symbolic advance.

The sums involved are much lower than for club competitions.

In this area, the gaps are abysmal and this, all over the world ...

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