Brazil Announce Equal Pay Deal for Men's & Women's National Teams

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has announced a new measure that will see the senior men’s and women’s teams paid equally for representing the country.

That means any player who is selected by Brazil, male or female, will receive the same financial reward for training camps and games. Therefore, the likes of Marta, Cristiane, Formiga and Debinha will be paid the same for wearing the Seleção jersey as Neymar, Philippe Coutinho and others.

CBF president Rogério Caboclo confirmed the news this week, although the decision was made earlier this year and equal pay has actually already been in place for six months.

Brazil’s women played at the Tournoi de France competition in March, facing Netherlands, France and Canada, seeing equal renumeration for the first time then.

“Since March of this year, CBF has made an equal value in terms of prizes and daily rates between men's and women's football,” Caboclo said this week.

“That is, the players earn the same thing as the players during the calls. What they receive by daily call, women also receive. What they will gain by conquering or by staging the Olympics next year will be the same as the men will have.”

Even if future men’s tournaments, like the 2022 World Cup, pay out greater prize money than similar women’s tournaments, the CBF intends to make sure men and women are also paid the same proportional share of the respective prize fund so that mean are no longer unfairly rewarded.

“What men will receive at the next World Cup will be proportionally equal to what is proposed by FIFA. There is no more gender difference, as the CBF is treating men and women equally,” Caboclo added.

Australia and Norway have already struck landmark pay deals that see their men’s and women’s teams paid equally for representing the country, while the FA has confirmed that, as of this year, male and female players earn the same for representing England.

"The FA pays its women's players exactly the same as their male counterparts for representing England, both in terms of match fees and match bonuses.  This parity has been in place since January 2020," the national association confirmed in response to the news from Brazil.

However, players from the USWNT are still fighting for it in the United States. Their complaint against U.S. Soccer hit a major setback in May when a California court dismissed it.

For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!