Australia and Japan Women's Teams Criticize AFC Prize Gap

Australian and Japanese women's national soccer teams issued a joint statement on Thursday criticizing the Asian Football Confederation for maintaining unequal prize money between the men's and women's Asian Cup tournaments, despite the recent women's event setting attendance records in Australia.

The statement, released through the players' union FIFPro Asia-Oceania, highlighted the women's tournament's success while pointing to its $1.8 million prize pool, unchanged since 2022 when such payments began. This amount represents about 12 percent of the $14.8 million offered at the 2023 men's Asian Cup in Qatar, where each participating nation also received a $200,000 fee. The women's event remains the lowest-paying continental competition globally, falling short of pools like the $3.47 million for the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations.

Japan defeated Australia 1-0 in the final on March 21 at Stadium Australia in Sydney, drawing 74,397 spectators. Overall attendance reached 355,528 across venues in Perth, the Gold Coast, and Sydney, marking the most attended Women's Asian Cup in history. Players from both teams, along with representatives from several other competing nations, had...