Following a FIFA meeting in Rwanda on Friday, the global football association's president, Gianni Infantino, announced the organization's plan to increase the prize money for the upcoming Women's World Cup 2019 from $15 million to $30 million (€13 million to €25 million). The hike will enter force for next year's tournament in France.

The move drew praise from those who saw it as a step in the right direction, but also some criticism from some who say that it does not do enough to bridge the gap between men and women in the game. 

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For the last men's World Cup in Russia, the prize money had been raised by 12 percent to $400 million, with France's winning squad earning $38 million. In Kigali, FIFA also agreed to raise the prize money for the Qatar World Cup to $440 million.

By contrast, the winning women's team at the 2019 World Cup will receive $4 million, an increase from the $2 million that the USA team earned in 2015.

All teams will be rewarded

Infantino said that doubling the prize money for women sent "a very important message for women's football." FIFA plans to also allocate $20 million for pre-tournament preparations, raising the sum to $50 million in total, which would be allocated across the 24 participating nations.

This will be the first time that all teams are rewarded for participating in the tournament, as is already the case in the men's edition.

"It's massively higher than the last World Cup," Infantino told The Associated Press. "We have to invest in women's football to make it even self-sustaining to some extent," he said, conceding that he believes it is hard to find "models where everything is equal."

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Former German star and winner of the 2014 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, Nadine Keßler, was among several former players who hailed the decision on Twitter, saying it was "fantastic news" for women's football.

Critics say 'not enough'

The global footballers' union FIFpro acknowledged FIFA's changes, but said they were not enough to undo the inequality between men's and women's football worldwide.

"FIFPro notes the willingness of FIFA to increase prize money for the Women's World Cup and make structural improvements to support women's football. However, despite these changes, football remains even further from the goal of equality for all World Cup players regardless of gender," a FIFpro statement said.

FIFA says it is trying. Earlier this month, the organization announced a proposal focused on growing the women's game and adding more women to leadership positions among the 211 member associations.

jcg/amp (AP, Reuters)

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