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Equal pay in football is one thing, but fair prize money is much harder to achieve
After the stunning success of the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, continued calls for equal pay rang loudly across the globe.
The tournament took the women’s game into the stratosphere. Broadcast wise, the numbers were astonishing, stadium attendance was superb and the football played impressive. The growth in women’s football at the elite level has a momentum unparalleled by any other global sport and the process of guiding the game through that growth is an important one that must be overseen astutely.
Australia’s national women’s team, the Matildas, will play a key role in the short term future of football, as one of the top ten nations in the female game. With a significant portion of the national squad now plying their trade in the FA Women’s Super League in the UK, their personal development as footballers appears limitless.
The Super League has attracted the best of the best from around the world and appears likely to become similar to the EPL in terms of the quality of play and the financial remuneration available to players.
It is that financial remuneration that has been a hot topic in recent days, with news surfacing the England’s FA have been paying the exact same amount in match fees and bonuses to its men’s and women’s teams since January 2020. The Brazilian Football Confederation has confirmed that a similar parity has been occurring since March and the ground breaking collective bargaining agreement announced in November 2019, saw Australia’s elite female players earn true equity in pay and conditions.
That agreement saw Matilda salaries increase to around A$100,000, in line with their male counterparts, whilst also increasing their share of revenue generated from national team play.
No doubt, more and more countries around the globe will follow suit in the short to medium term and by the time the world gathers in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 for the next edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, it is highly likely that true pay equality will be universally in existence for all the squads competing.
Sadly for the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) the road to financial parity has been a less than simple and uncontroversial one. A March 2019 court proceeding seeking US$100 million was tossed from the court room by a federal judge, citing the team’s original decision to reject the payment structure adopted by the men’s team and their subsequent dissatisfaction with that choice.
Taking legal action retroactively once the error of their way became clear was frowned upon by the judge, yet claims that the medical treatment and travel support offered to the squad were inadequate, will indeed see the USWNT have their day in court in the near future.
No doubt the USWNT’s situation will be resolved in due course and wages and conditions set in line with those provided for the men’s team, however the best female players in the world will still be well behind males when it comes to the potential financial windfall they can take from the game they love.
At the 2019 Women’s World Cup, the USWNT received $4 million for its victory. Each participating team was given $750,000 for playing in the group stage, with bonus funds due the further a nation progressed through the tournament. Overall, FIFA allocated $30 million to the event, a smallish figure when compared to the $400 million paid to the teams participating at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
National federations receive the funds and dole out the money as they see fit and this is where the next discussion around the reimbursement of female players will lie. Whilst the Matildas are pleased with their negotiated 30 per cent share of prize money, such an agreement does not exist for most women’s national teams.
Some might argue that if FIFA’s total investment in the Women’s World Cup was around seven per cent of the $400 million spent on the men’s tournament, then the share of prize money allocated to female participants should be at around the same rate.
However, FIFA makes little distinction between the two tournaments, claiming revenue cannot be split among all FIFA events, as broadcast and corporate arrangements are agreed to as a complete package. Thus, a discussion around the value of the women who play the game at the highest level and the share of the purse they should earn will be the next step in the path to true pay equality.
Australia has pioneered that path and will look to lead the rest of the world when it comes to ensuring that the current and future generation of Matildas is compensated fairly; not only via salaries and match payments, but also through the allocation of prize money awarded for the entertainment they provide and any success they have on the pitch.
The A-League has just lost a Victorian club. The death of Western United and the suspension of its license by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) on August 10th was inevitable. The club says it wants to rebuild and eventually return to the competition. That is unlikely to happen considering the search for new owners has to begin.
But one day after the announcement from Western United, South Melbourne stepped forward. The four-time NSL winners announced their intention to begin formal discussions with the APL about joining the A-Leagues. They believe the timing is right. Their argument is understandable. Their football credentials and history are stronger than most A-League teams.
But there is a problem. South Melbourne may have the history. It may have the supporters. It may even have one of the most attractive potential derbies in Australian football. But that does not mean it will get an A-League licence.
In fact, the more realistic prediction from my perspective is that South Melbourne will once again be told no.
South Melbourne has never been better placed
There is plenty to like about South Melbourne’s position. The club is not simply relying on its history. South Melbourne returned to national competition through the inaugural Australian Championship in 2025. It did not merely participate. South Melbourne won it. The club defeated Marconi Stallions 2-0 in the final to become the competition’s first champion.
That achievement matters. The Australian Championship was created to bridge state-based football and the professional game. Whilst it is seen as a second tier, there is no promotion and relegation with the A-League. But it has also continued to perform on the national stage. In the 2026 Australia Cup, which South Melbourne qualified for, they reached the final rounds and then produced one of the biggest results of the tournament.
Adelaide United came to Lakeside Stadium. South Melbourne won 2-1. Adelaide had won the Australia Cup three times. South knocked them out in front of its own supporters. They’re now into the quarter-finals of the 2026 Australia Cup.
South Melbourne celebrating the Australian Championship Image Credits: South Melbourne FC
The club also has a much bigger story to tell than its recent results. Alongside its four NSL victories, the club also won the 1999 Oceania Club Championship and represented Oceania at the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship. The club has a dedicated supporter base and the history to deserve a place.
The club says its Oceania Professional League participation has helped make it Australia’s 13th professional football club. It has more than 150 businesses supporting it in 2026 and a long-term arrangement at Lakeside Stadium, in the heart of South Melbourne.
On paper, it is difficult to argue that South Melbourne is not ready. The problem is that readiness and admission are two different things.
Third time’s the charm?
South Melbourne’s current push is not new. It has been here before. The club was pursuing an A-League return almost immediately after the NSL disappeared. In 2007, South announced its interest in becoming the second Victorian A-League club.
Then came the 2008-09 process. South Melbourne backed the Southern Cross bid for the second Victorian licence. The club proposed a new team based around the redevelopment of Bob Jane Stadium and involvement from the broader Victorian football community.
It lost. The Melbourne Heart bid won the race and eventually became Melbourne City. That was South Melbourne’s first major warning. Its football heritage was not enough. Its second major attempt came almost a decade later.
The 2017-18 expansion process produced the most serious South Melbourne bid yet. South made the shortlist for an expanded A-League licence. It ultimately lost to Western United. Bill Papastergiadis has since explained that he did not genuinely expect South Melbourne to win in 2018, despite believing strongly that the club belonged in the A-League. He also reflected on the barriers facing a traditional club trying to enter the existing Victorian professional football ecosystem.
That is important context for today’s bid. South Melbourne is not entering negotiations without understanding how difficult the politics and economics of the Victorian football market can be. The club has tried the direct route twice. Neither time worked.
The Western United lesson
This is where the current situation becomes complicated. In isolation, adding South Melbourne would be fantastic for the A-League. Imagine South Melbourne against Melbourne Victory. The atmosphere would be enormous.
There is a genuine football rivalry waiting to happen. South itself points to the potential for ready-made derbies and commercial interest. But the argument that Melbourne should simply have three A-League clubs because Melbourne is a huge city ignores what has just happened to Western United.
Western United was supposed to represent Melbourne’s rapidly growing west. Its original vision centred on a major project in Geelong. The club eventually moved into Ironbark Fields in Tarneit in 2024.
Yet the geographic separation never became as clear as the original concept suggested. Western United was not a Geelong club. It was not a regional Victorian club in the traditional sense. It was a western Melbourne club based and that matters.
The A-League already has Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory. Adding South Melbourne would give the competition three clubs operating within the same metropolitan football market. It is not necessarily brilliant for the business model, which has already lost a club operating on the outskirts of Melbourne.
The NSL offers an interesting historical comparison. The Falcons provide an even more striking Victorian example. They became the first and only regional Victorian club to play in the NSL, reaching the finals in 1996. The distinction is important.
A national competition can expand its footprint by adding genuinely new markets. That is different from adding another club inside an existing Melbourne metropolitan market. That was what was envisioned for Western United, and it failed quickly.
Will the APL see South Melbourne as a safe investment? Despite the fact they’re a well-established club, I’d argue the answer is no.
Promotion and relegation is the only realistic route
There is one scenario where South Melbourne could eventually force its way into the A-League, and that’s the great missing piece of Australian football. Promotion and relegation. South Melbourne would not need somebody to decide that Melbourne suddenly has room for another licence. It would simply need to earn it.
They would have done just that in 2025, winning the Australian Championship if the football pyramid was open. Football Australia originally designed the National Second Tier with the possibility of promotion and relegation being considered once the competition matured.
The format connects NPL clubs and established foundation clubs with national competition. It does not provide a sporting pathway into the A-League. South Melbourne can win the Australian Championship, NSL and Australia Cup but none of those achievements automatically produce an A-League licence.
South Melbourne in the Oceania Championship Image Credits: Oceania Championship
Opening the pyramid is far more complicated than simply announcing promotion and relegation. Australia’s football calendar is fragmented. The A-League operates primarily through the summer months. The NPL operates through the winter and early spring. For the 2026-27 season, the A-League Men runs from October to June, while the NPL begins in February and finishes in September.
That creates an enormous structural problem for a fully connected pyramid. The clubs below the A-League would need to operate at a level capable of supporting professional football. If the A-League aligned with the NPL and the lower pyramid, it would compete in a football calendar that already has to coexist with Australia’s other major winter sports. That is a difficult feat against bigger leagues such as the AFL and NRL.
Beyond that, clubs lower down would need travel budgets and to survive commercially would take real sacrifice from all parties to make that work. The A-League’s existing clubs also have something to lose. They have invested heavily in their licences and their businesses.
Historically, A-League licences were extended through to 2034, while those licence arrangements have included provisions allowing promotion and relegation to be introduced. But the existing clubs will do everything in their power to block it. Promotion and relegation removes certainty. An A-League club can finish last in the current system with no threat to their place. Under relegation, its place is no longer guaranteed.
That is a major commercial change for clubs that have invested in securing their position in the competition. It is therefore difficult to imagine the A-League opening the door. The A-League’s licensing system gives the competition enormous control over who enters, and for South Melbourne historically they’ve been left out in the cold.
South Melbourne deserves the conversation.
The frustrating part is South Melbourne has probably never had a stronger argument. It has history, supporters, infrastructure, commercial support and most importantly, ambition. Beating A-League clubs in national competition proves the capability is there.
It deserves to be in the conversation. But being in the conversation is not the same as being selected. The Western United experience should be a warning. If the A-League could not make the Western United project work, it is difficult to see why it would suddenly decide that another Melbourne club is the answer.
South Melbourne may be the better football story. It may even be the better football club. But the A-League is not simply selecting the best football story.
It is selecting a professional competition, and until Australia embraces a genuine promotion and relegation system, South Melbourne’s path back to the top flight will remain dependent on someone handing it a licence.
That is the part of the dream that looks unrealistic. South Melbourne can keep knocking and it should. They always say third time’s the charm. But unless the pyramid is opened, I expect the door to remain closed.
The Saudi Pro League was designed to become football’s next global powerhouse.
Starting in 2022, Saudi Arabia transformed its domestic competition from a league rarely discussed outside the Middle East into one of the biggest stories in world football. Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at Al-Nasar in 2022. Karim Benzema followed suit a year later. Sadio Mané, Neymar, N’golo Kante and other established stars made the move. Billions were spent, and suddenly the Saudi Pro League was impossible to ignore.
But the formula that created the league’s global attention is beginning to change. Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that this season will probably be his last in professional football. Funding for Saudi clubs is being reduced, and the league’s transfer strategy is moving away from the ageing superstars that defined its rise.
So, is the Saudi Pro League entering the next stage of its development, or beginning to lose the very things that made it relevant?
Ronaldo’s final season could leave a huge hole
For all the talk about Saudi Arabia’s investment, there is no escaping one fact: Cristiano Ronaldo changed everything. When the Portuguese superstar moved to Al-Nassr during the 2022-2023 season, he became the face of the Saudi Pro League almost overnight. His arrival helped turn Saudi football into a global talking point and opened the door for other major names to follow.
Now, that era could be coming to an end. In an interview with Vogue, Ronaldo said that 2026–27 is “probably” his last year of football and that he wants to leave a “spectacular legacy”. At 41, the Al-Nassr captain has already reached the final stages of a career that has lasted more than two decades.
For the Saudi Pro League, however, his retirement is about more than one player. Ronaldo is a global marketing machine. His goals, interviews, and social media presence have given Al-Nassr and the league itself an international audience that few Saudi players could generate on their own.
The question is simple: when Ronaldo leaves, how much of that attention leaves with him?
The funding cuts change the equation
The second problem is money. The Saudi Pro League’s rapid growth has been built on extraordinary levels of investment. The Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) involvement in four of Saudi Arabia’s biggest clubs helped finance the recruitment of some of football’s biggest names.
Now, that spending is being reined in. The PIF sold 70% of its stake in Al-Hilal and has cut funding to the highly controversial LIV Golf league completely. That does not mean Saudi football is suddenly broke. It does, however, represent a significant change from the spending spree that made the league famous.
This is where the Saudi Pro League faces its biggest test. When you have almost unlimited financial power, attracting players is relatively straightforward. When the money becomes tighter, clubs have to compete on something else.
The league now has to prove that it can offer development and growth of its homegrown talent too. That will also help to build invested supporters and a sustainable football culture.
The superstar shopping spree is slowing down
The transfer market is already beginning to look different. In 2023, the Saudi Pro League’s recruitment strategy was difficult to miss: identify the biggest names in European football and bring them to Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo earns $6.1 million (3.2 million pounds) a week. Neymar remains the record signing of the SPL, costing Al Hilal $147 million (90 million euros) from Paris Saint-Germain.
The list went on. But the league’s approach is now shifting. Rather than simply targeting established stars in the latter stages of their careers, Saudi clubs are increasingly looking at younger players with potential and resale value. Al-Hilal’s signing of 24-year-old Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville is one example of that change.
That could be good business. But it is also less glamorous. There is a big difference between announcing Ronaldo or Neymar and announcing a promising 24-year-old winger. One generates worldwide headlines; the other requires dedicated fans who have been invested in the SPL because of those headline signings.
That could make the league harder to market internationally in the short term. Yet perhaps that is exactly what Saudi football needs. The league cannot rely forever on players who are already famous elsewhere, and the SPL will have to be increasingly smart with its investments.
There is a reason to believe in the project
It would be easy to look at Ronaldo’s retirement, reduced spending and fewer superstar signings and declare the Saudi Pro League will become irrelevant. The league has already achieved something that would have seemed unlikely only a few years ago: it has forced itself into the global football conversation.
Saudi clubs are now internationally recognisable, the competition has attracted genuine world-class talent and the league has a much larger global profile than it did before 2022.
More importantly, the shift away from ageing superstars could eventually make the competition stronger. Instead of spending endlessly on players approaching the end of their careers, Saudi clubs can invest in younger footballers, local talent and long-term development. The league has acknowledged that improving domestic football and giving Saudi players greater opportunities is a more sustainable goal than simply collecting famous names.
That is the real opportunity. Ronaldo may have been the reason millions of people first looked at the Saudi Pro League, but he does not have to be the reason they stay.
The next stage of Saudi football will not be judged on how it invests in football ahead of its 2034 FIFA World Cup. The Saudi Pro League has already proved that money can buy attention, but now it has to fight to keep it before the world descends on the country in eight years.
