KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: FIFA’s decision to double prize money at next year’s Women’s World Cup in France in 2019 drew barely grudging approval from the international players’ union FIFPro.

Gianni Infantino, president of the federation, presented the cash upgrade decision after its approval by FIFA Council in Kigali, Rwanda.

He said: “The overall contribution will be $50m for the 24 partici[ating teams which means more than three times the amount paid in 2015.

“Concretely this means 100pc more in prize money from $15m to $30m, the introduction of $11.5m in preparatory money to allow the teams to prepare properly and a club benefit programme to reward the clubs by $8.5m.

“It’s a very important message for women’s football. It will boost this Women’s World Cup even more.”

FIFPro was not impressed. A statement said merely that it “notes the willingness of FIFA to increase prize money.”

It complained: “Despite these changes football remains even further from the goal of equality for all World Cup players regardless of gender.

“In reality, the changes actually signify an increase in the gap between men’s and women’s prize money. This regressive trend appears to contravene FIFA’s statutory commitment to gender equality.

“Football, as the world’s biggest sport, has a fundamental role to play in wider society to show that women are valued in the same way as men.

“We strongly support our members, women’s national-team players in multiple countries, who have written to FIFA in recent days expressing their dismay about the distribution of prize money.”

Infantino also announced that FIFA Council had created a taskforce for women’s football “to implement the strategy we have agreed on for the global development of women’s football.”

This appeared to represent a major admission that the initial decision by Infantino’s regime to fold the administration of women’s football into the general FIFA administration had proved a significant backward step.

##############