sport news KATHRYN BATTE: Bold talk over equal pay is little more than a PR stunt trends now
Today, Gianni Infantino feels generous.
On the day he was re-elected FIFA president unopposed, the 52-year-old announced the governing body's desire for the women's World Cup prize money to match the men's by 2027. Importantly, this is a wish - not a promise.
The news on Thursday that the total prize money for this year's tournament will be trebled to £125million - for the men's World Cup in Qatar it was £365m - was welcome and needed.
This is still a growing sport. If you don't increase prize money you will never improve the quality of the product FIFA are desperate to market. And growing interest has fuelled FIFA's ability to increase the prize pots.
'Women deserve much, much more, and we are here to fight with them and for them. We need to fight together to achieve that,' Infantino said.
Gianni Infantino claimed he wants equal pay between men and women at FIFA World Cups
USA won the last Women's World Cup in 2019 and have been campaigning for equal pay
But the idea of equal prize money in four years' time is hugely ambitious and smacks of a marketing ploy from a president who knows he needs a PR win.
How can anybody trust a word Infantino says? This is a man who was happy for Saudi Arabia's tourism body to sponsor this summer's competition, a move set to be abandoned following criticism from players because of the country's appalling record on women's rights.
Did he and FIFA have the best interests of the women's game at heart when they effectively endorsed that regime with that decision?
It is also telling that Infantino used the same speech to lambast broadcasters for not making reasonable financial offers to show matches at this year's competition.
'FIFA are receiving between 10 and 100 times less from public broadcasters for the women's World Cup than the men's World Cup. Do you think that is normal?' Infantino said.
'At the same time, these public broadcasters, who are paid by taxpayers' money, criticise FIFA… for not guaranteeing equal pay to men and women.
'You pay us 100 times less, but your viewing figures are very similar,
