(Reuters) – England’s Lionesses have paused bonus discussions with the Football Association (FA) ahead of the Women’s World Cup, their captain Millie Bright said on Tuesday, adding that the team were “disappointed” the issue had not been resolved.
The players have been locked in a dispute with the FA following FIFA’s announcement that the global governing body would directly pay individual fees to players at the World Cup starting at $30,000 and rising to $270,000 for each member of the winning team.
The FA’s decision not to offer the England team bonus payments on top of the fees they will earn from FIFA has been a bone of contention in the build-up to the tournament.
England play their opening World Cup match against Haiti in four days and Bright said they would pause discussions with the FA until after the tournament’s conclusion.
“Last year we presented the FA with concerns relating to our bonus and commercial structures,” she said in a statement on Twitter signed by all the England players. “The hope was that discussions would lead to a solution before the commencement of our World Cup.
“We are disappointed that a resolution has still not been achieved… (and)… with our opening game on the horizon, we Lionesses have decided to pause discussions, with full intentions of revisiting them following the tournament.”
The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) said issues surrounding pay were especially apparent in countries where players did not have collective bargaining agreements.
“(The Lionesses) join players from a number of countries at the World Cup who are prepared to make a stand when they don’t think they are being listened to,” PFA chief executive officer Maheta Molango said.
“It’s no coincidence that this is a particular issue for nations where there is no proper Collective Bargaining Agreement in place between players and governing bodies.
“There will always be consequences when players feel they are having to come back issue by issue to push for parity and progress. It doesn’t need to be like this.”
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
