Brazil announces equal pay for men's and women's national teams

'There is no more gender difference, the CBF is treating men and women equally.'

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said on Wednesday that its men's and women's national soccer teams will receive equal pay, although World Cup prize money would depend on FIFA.

"There is no more gender difference, the CBF is treating men and women equally," CBF chief Rogerio Caboclo said in a statement.

Caboclo, however, said prize money from the World Cup would be proportionally equal to what global governing body FIFA pays the competing nations. 

FIFA offered prize money of $30 million to the teams in the 2019 women’s World Cup, while the men took home $400 million.

Yet the CBF said it would give both men and women the same daily allowance when they are on international duty and pay them the same prize money for success in the Olympics.

The Olympic organisation does not pay prize money to medal winners.

Pay disparity between men's and women's professional soccer players has been in the spotlight since the United States women's team sued its governing body U.S. Soccer last year alleging gender discrimination in earnings and working conditions.

The team's claims were dismissed by a court in May and a bid to appeal the decision immediately was denied.

Australian soccer's governing body said in November that it had reached an agreement with the players' union on a new collective bargaining agreement that "closes the pay gap" between the men's and women's teams.

New Zealand and Norway have also moved to address the pay gap between their male and female players.

The Brazil women's team reached the World Cup final in 2007 and Olympic finals in 2004 and 2008. The men’s team have won the World Cup a record five times and Olympic gold once.