The Football Association of Wales (FAW) became the latest governing body to agree equal pay deals for men’s and women’s internationals on Wednesday.
The deal comes into place immediately and covers the period up to and including the 2026 men’s World Cup and 2027 women’s World Cup.
Wales’ equality deal arrives as discussions demanding financial parity within the sport have increased in vigour, with Scotland’s female international footballers launching legal action against the Scottish FA in December of last year over equal pay and treatment claims in comparison to their male counterparts. Wales’ equal pay deal puts them in the same caste as England, United States, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada and Sweden, who have already announced similar equal pay arrangements within their respective FAs.
England’s men’s and women’s senior players have been paid the same match fee for representing their country since January 2020, while the Republic of Ireland agreed a similar deal in August 2021.
A joint statement released by Wales men’s and women’s teams said: ‘”Together Stronger” has been the mantra across the Cymru national teams for us all, both on and off the pitch as we look to put Wales on the world stage.
‘As part of the Football Association of Wales’ strive towards equality, we are now proud to announce that together, our men’s and women’s teams have agreed to an equal pay structure for future international matches.
‘We hope that this will allow future generations of boys and girls to see that there is equality across Welsh international football, which is important for society as a whole.
‘With this agreement in place, we will now look ahead to the Euro 2024 and 2025 qualifying campaigns, as we aim to see further success across both our senior teams in the near future.’
FAW chief executive, Noel Mooney, said: “The FAW is a modern, progressive movement that seeks to improve each day.
“This is another step towards becoming one of the world’s great sports organisations and we thank both the men’s and women’s squads for their brilliant co-operation in getting this agreed.”
World champions the United States, Spain and Norway are among nations who have introduced equal pay for male and female players for representing their country.
But Scotland’s female internationals launched legal action against the Scottish Football Association (SFA) last month over equal pay and treatment claims.
The players want a contract stipulating equal pay and treatment compared to their male counterparts on issues such as training facilities, hotels, travel, kit plus medical and nutritional resources.
The PA News agency understands the Irish FA is progressing towards an equal pay deal for Northern Ireland players.
