England women's footballers were fuming last week over a poultry £40 a day allowance allotted to them by the Football Association for the five weeks that they were at the World Cup in China in September.
The team reached the quarter-finals, but players believe they are struggling to retain their fitness levels because they now have to work extra hours to claw back wages lost from their jobs.
“Two months back from China, people are still working to recoup the money,” said Chelsea striker Eniola Aluko.
It follows comment from Gerry Sutcliffe, the minister of the British Sports, who last month criticized "the obscene salary" of Chelsea’s captain John Terry.
Terry who is thought to be on £150,000 a week wasn’t available for comment, although, to be honest, I didn’t call him.
Now I seriously doubt that England mens team were paid £40 per day for their efforts in Germany last year. And even if they had, what would it matter when they take home an average of £70k per week and don’t have to come back to second jobs and full time childcare.
OK so the male version of Football World Cup is the most watched sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games and attracting an audience of about 27 billion people. The draw alone for Germany in 2006 attracted 300 million viewers.
And regardless of what England’s men generate for the game of football in this country, if you compared like for like, women could argue that they bust a gut in equal measure in training as men and they play for 90 minutes during match day.
Cumbria County Council faces the possibility of £60m in payouts after losing a sex discrimination tribunal brought on behalf of nearly 3,000 women last year.
The tribunal found that the council was paying 2,960 women workers, including carers, cleaners and catering staff, less than their male colleagues.
Eniola Aluko and her team mates may want to call up the legal team in Cumbria and dream about how they will spend the backpay owed to them if they win.
