These South African Athletes Get More Money After Stand-Off Over Gender Issues Pay Inequality

The South African Women’s World Cup team scores a deal after taking a stance against pay disparities between men’s and women’s soccer.

The team received $320,000 from the Motsepe Foundation after refusing to play in a game on July 2, 2023, the Associated Press reported. Confederation of African Football President Patrice Motsepe, a billionaire mining businessman, heads the donating foundation.

A series of unfair happenings led the team to stick it to the South African Soccer Association. In addition to lower pay, contract issues, and the location of their send-off game drove the 23-player team to sit out during its most recent game. The Association’s President Danny Jordaan, said, “Clearly, the issue of contract negotiations started too late.” According to the Associated Press, the South African team had yet to receive any contractual agreement about the amount of money they would receive for representing their country in the World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand. The outlet reported the stadium for the team’s send-off was too small. South Africa’s men’s World Cup team would never be asked to play at the lesser-known venue, according to the women’s team.

The World Cup begins July 20, 2023.

Pay disparities no longer exist between men’s and women’s soccer in the U.S. CBS reported that the U.S. Soccer Federation announced in 2022 that men and women would receive the same pay. The outlet said payment would be the same for the two genders across “public appearance fees, game bonuses, prize money, and federation revenue sharing.”

While this was a win for U.S. soccer, women in other sports still do not get equal pay. Black Enterprise previously reported tennis star Venus Williams revealed about her 2000 Wimbledon win, “The men’s singles champion received £477,500 while the women’s singles champion earned £430,000.”

NPR reported in 2022, NBA players made a base salary of around $5.4 million. WNBA players only received about $120,600.