The former Matilda leaves Hamish Macdonald stunned after revealing the shocking pay he received after helping Australia reach the 2015 World Cup quarter-finals: ‘Really?’
Former Matilda Michelle Heyman has revealed the shocking amount players were paid for reaching the 2015 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals.
As the Australian team prepares for the quarter-final against France ahead of a sold-out match in Brisbane on Saturday, Heyman told The Project how far women’s football has come as FIFA talks about improving prize money for the women.
FIFA has committed to equalizing World Cup prize money for its two senior tournaments by 2027.
Heyman, the A-League Women’s all-time top scorer, was asked by The Project presenter Hamish Macdonald what players were paid at the World Cup eight years ago.
‘Michelle, let’s put all this in perspective: at the 2015 World Cup you made it to the quarterfinals after knocking out Brazil. How much did you take home as a result of that tournament?’ asked Macdonald on Friday.
The project’s presenter, Hamish Macdonald, was stunned by a shocking revelation.
Michelle Heyman revealed she was paid $750 after the Women’s World Cup in 2015
‘Do you really want to know?’ Heyman said.
‘Yes, I really want to know.’
“So the big $750,” Heyman said.
A stunned Macdonald replied ‘Really?’
‘Yeah. It was not good at all back then. And it’s good to see that there’s been a little bit of a change in the last eight years,” Heyman said.
‘But yeah, that’s what we all brought home, each was the big $750!’
Heyman said she was excited to see the Matildas do so well at her home World Cup tournament, where games sold out and merchandise sold out on shelves.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese even talks about a public holiday if the Matildas win.
But she said there was still a long way to go for women’s football despite the success of this tournament, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
‘There is still zero equality within the game. I think they pay us four to five times less than men for the World Cup.
‘So it’s come a long way in the last eight years since my World Cup. But at the same time, it’s still so, so far from equality.’
She said that the marketing of the women’s game had improved, but that she was not sorry for the success, and possible financial bonus, that the team was experiencing.
They are my girls. They are my team,” she said.
But I think you can see the difference within companies by jumping on board. Everyone supporting the Matildas. Ten years ago, there was none of that.
Heyman campaigns for soccer players to earn better
