FAI chief executive Jonathan Hill, following a speech at the association's annual general meeting that leaned heavily on addressing the gender imbalance in Irish football, has revealed that negotiations are currently taking place to bridge the pay gap for male and female Irish internationals.
Currently, the Republic of Ireland senior men’s international match fee is €2,500 while the women get €500.
“I think the approach that is used for men and women should be the same, yes,” said Hill. “In other words, we should have the same approach to tournament bonus and tournament qualification.
“The quantum that that approach might refer to is dependent on obviously the decisions of both Uefa and Fifa as to how much they are going to pay for those bonuses but, yes, we should strive to have equality in that approach.”
Considering Fifa’s prize-money for the 2018 men’s World Cup was €340 million while the prize-money for the 2019 women’s World Cup was €25.5 million, Hill was asked what is stopping the FAI from following the lead of the English FA, Norwegian and Brazilian football federations by paying the same match fee to men and women.
“I don’t think there is a specific barrier to that,” Hill responded. “I am having those conversations with both the representatives of the men’s and women’s team at the moment.”
The FAI are believed to be dealing with respective Ireland team captains Séamus Coleman and Katie McCabe.
