Following the German national team’s stellar performance at the European Women’s Championship, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for equal pay for international footballers.

Chancellor Scholz meets with DFB to discuss equal pay

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with the German Football Association (DFB) on Tuesday to discuss equal pay for international footballers. “My position on this is clear,” Scholz said. “We talked about how we can continue to help more girls and women get excited about football. Of course, the wages at such tournaments play a major role in this,” he explained. “That’s why it makes sense to discuss equal pay. I made the suggestion and I’m very grateful that there is a willingness to discuss this issue.”

The meeting comes after a highly successful campaign for the German women’s national team. Germany only lost one game in the European Championships, in both the qualifiers and the tournament proper. Their only loss was in the final against England.

Chancellor Scholz attended the final at Wembley Stadium in London. He has previously made his position regarding equal pay for women clear by tweeting: “It’s 2022, and women and men should be paid equally. This also applies to sport, especially for national teams.” His comments come after the Dutch football association announced that, from July onwards, the women's national team would receive the same salaries as their male counterparts.

Men’s win bonus seven times higher than women’s

The gulf in pay between the men’s and women’s international football teams becomes apparent upon examining the teams’ win bonuses. The women’s national team stood to earn 60.000 euros each if they had won the Euros, while the men would have received 400.000 euros each – seven times more than the women.

The president of the DFB, Bernd Neuendorf, indicated his willingness to take action. "I am at least willing to talk to the representatives of the senior national teams in our committees about whether our bonus system, which has grown over decades, is still up to date... and whether it can also be adjusted if necessary. However, it should also be noted that despite the same activity, the markets are still very different. For lasting success, we need better promotion of young talent.”

Both Scholz and Neuendorf have agreed to continue the discussion of equal pay. The chancellor also promised to talk personally with players and women’s team manager Martina Voss-Tecklenburg.