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Huge pay disparity findings revealed in Global Sports Salaries Survey 2017

28 November 2017

Huge pay disparity findings revealed in Global Sports Salaries Survey 2017

Professional women players earn around one per cent of the men's money according to survey findings.

Neymar pockets more in a single season at Paris Saint-Germain than every professional player in the top seven women's football leagues combined.

So says the recently published Global Sports Salaries Survey, which reveals a huge disparity in wages between professional male and female footballers.

England, USA, Sweden, France, Germany, Australia and Mexico pay their 1,693 woman players £32.8m a year combined. That is almost identical to the €36.8m (£32.9m) that Brazilian ace Neymar will earn at PSG, in 2017-18 - for his playing contract alone!

Another example of the gender pay gap can be found much closer to home where the average first-team pay in the (men's) Premier League has risen to £2.64m this season, whilst in the equivalent women's division, the FA Women's Super League (FAWSL), it is £26,752 for this season - about one per cent of the men's money.

Lewes FC has led the way on equal pay and in June this year became the first professional or semi-professional football club to pay its women’s team the same as its men’s team, as part of its Equality FC campaign.

Globally, Norway are a shining light on equal pay with both its men's and women's international teams paid equally. The men's national team have decided to give away 550,000 Norwegian kroner (£50,700) received each year for commercial activities to the women, to help bring parity.

To read the survey findings in full click here. 

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