FIFA
FIFA to study unifying men’s and women’s World Cup trophies
The next FIFA Congress (74th) will be held in Bangkok with with a series of initiatives to bring the women’s and men’s game into line set to be explored.
FIFA are set to explore the possibility of unifying the trophies received by the world champions in both men’s and women’s Soccer World Cups with even a suggestion that this may happen as soon as the 2026 men’s competition which will be staged in the United States, Mexico and Canada and the women’s tournament staged a year later.
At present the World Cup trophies for men and women are different. In Lusail Stadium in December 2022, Argentine captain Leo Messi was presented a trophy which is an evolution of the traditional Jules Rimet Cup, with the original created in 1930 and used through to 1970. The Brazilian team won the tournament for the third time in 1970, allowing them to keep the real trophy in perpetuity, as had been stipulated by Jules Rimet in 1930.
The current format was first unveiled at the World Cup in Germany (1974) with the trophy designed by the famous Italian sculptor Gazzaniga.
The Women’s World Cup trophy as raised by Ivana Andrés in Australia last summer is the work of the Lebanese sculptor Sawaya, who created his first version in 1991.
The men’s trophy is 36.8 centimeters high and weighs 6,170 kilos, of which five are gold and is valued at 250 thousand euros. The women’s model has a height of 47 centimeters and a weight of 4.6 kilograms. The material with which it is made is silver covered with 23 carat gold, and its value is around 35,000 euros.
Prize money parity
Another matter that FIFA are set to explore is more parity in the prize money offered to the winning teams. The Women’s World Cup multiplied its value by five between the 2019 and 2023 editions (it went from 30 to 150 million euros) but television audiences for the men’s game still dominate.
Spain’s win in South Africa 2010 saw domestic peaks in viewership of 16 million compared to the almost 9 million that that followed that of the Women’s team win in Sydney in 2023.
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino in the past has blamed television broadcasters as being instrumental in contributing to the gap in prize money for not making higher bids when it comes to securing rights packages for the women’s competition. Infantino openly criticized some channels for offering only 1% of what was paid for the last men’s tournament.