Equal pay for soccer
Norway to pay men and women’s national football teams equally
Photo: Stine Løvmo Lie / NRK
Stefan Johansen and Tore Reginiussen told NRK their pay cut was the right thing to do.
The Local
An agreement by Norway’s male international footballers to take a pay cut to enable equal wages to be given to both the men and women’s national sides has been described as “internationally unique.”
From 2018 the days of unequal pay on Norway’s male and female international football teams are over.
The Norwegian Football Association (Norges Fotballforbund) announced in a press release on October 6 that national players will be paid equally as of next year, writes newspaper Aftenposten.
“I just think it should be done this way. I think it could help them a lot. We want Norwegian football in the future. The ladies’ team is just as important as us,” men’s national team captain Stefan Johansen told broadcaster NRK.
The current agreement between the Norwegian FA and the men’s team pays 6.55 million kroner (700,000 euros) to the male players, while the women’s team receives 3.1 million kroner (330,000 euros) through a grant arrangement, reports Aftenposten.
With Johansen and his teammates agreeing to give 550,000 kroner of their collective pay to the women’s side and an increase in the grant, the pay of players on both teams will level out at five million kroner across the board as of next year, according to the report.
Women’s international Ingrid Moe Wold praised the equal pay initiative.
“This is good news and will make a big difference to the conditions of playing for the national team. It comes at a very important point in the development of women’s football in Norway. Better conditions will make it easier for more players to prioritize more training and focus on football in their everyday lives,” Moe Wold told Aftenposten.
Norwegian FA president Terje Svendsen said he was proud of the decision while Joachim Walltin, leader of the NISO player’s union, called it “unique” internationally.
Retired Norway striker Egil Østenstad also praised the initiative in a Twitter post, writing that it was “the best piece of math this week.”
This article was originally published on The Local.
It also appeared in the Oct. 20, 2017, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.
