Women soccer players deserve better pay

The 2022 Asian Football Confederation Women's Asian Cup-winning Chinese national team returned home to a rousing welcome, complete flower bouquets, sky-high praise and millions of yuan in prizes and rewards.

People in the know-how said that, in addition to the possible bonus of more than 10 million yuan ($1.57 million) announced by the Chinese Football Association, at least two companies have indicated they would offer rewards worth more than 10 million yuan to the women's soccer team. Although the bonus and rewards offered to the women's team indicate the importance of the AFC Women's Asian Cup, they don't reflect the real value of the championship.

Beyond the bonus and rewards, there are several points worth pondering. I believe that almost all those who watched the brave girls in red march through the championship were moved by their fighting spirit. For example, in the final, they were trailing by two goals, but came back from behind, as they say in sporting parlance, to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

From the quarterfinal win over Vietnam and semifinal victory over Japan to the eventual triumph against the Republic of Korea, all under adverse conditions, the win of the women's team demonstrated the players' indomitable spirit. That the Chinese team has lifted the AFC Women's Asian Cup for the ninth time in 16 years is the icing on the cake.

Still, as some experts and observers have said, the women's soccer team needs to bolster its defense, for by fixing the problems and strengthening the weak spots, the authorities will only ensure a better future for the team.

True, the team was promised handsome prize money for winning the AFC Women's Asian Cup, but when it flew to India to take part in the championship, none expected the amount to be in millions of yuan, not least because the men's soccer team always gets the lion's share of the bonuses and rewards despite its persistent failure in recent years.

For example, the Chinese men's soccer team was reportedly promised a bonus of 6 million yuan for winning one match during the Asian qualifying round for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, while the women's team received the official prize money of supposedly 10 million yuan only after winning the AFC Women's Asian Cup. Not to mention that the women's team has directly qualified for the finals of the Women's Football World Cup next year.

Had the Chinese men's team won the AFC Asian Cup and qualified for the World Cup finals, would the prize money be only 10 million yuan?

The women's soccer team has always received discriminatory treatment compared with the men's team and yet its performance has almost always been far better than the latter. In a way, the women's team has been living under the shadow of the men's team despite outshining it. For instance, when the women's team was marching toward victory at the AFC Women's Asian Cup, the men's team lost 1-3 to Vietnam during the Spring Festival holiday.

Therefore, every Chinese should not only celebrate, but also be proud of the women soccer team's victory.

However, in the 16 years since the Chinese women's team first won the championship of the AFC Women's Asia Cup, women's soccer in Asia has undergone big changes. China is no longer the dominant force in women's soccer in Asia. The Japanese and ROK women's teams today are not only as good as their Chinese counterpart but also have certain advantages in terms of skills and techniques.

So while women's soccer continues to flourish in Asia and teams such as Japan, the ROK and Vietnam continue to make progress, China needs to pay greater attention to the needs of the women soccer players and domestic coaches, and grant them higher monetary benefits so they can continue to shine in regional and global championships.

Women soccer players deserve better treatment and pay, especially because of their remarkable achievements.

The author is a research fellow at the China Football College, Beijing Sport University.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.