Barcelona and Nigeria striker Asisat Oshoala believes players will be inspired by the financial rewards Fifa is putting in place for the Women’s World Cup.
Five-time African player of the year Oshoala says the funds going straight to players rather than federations is a major step forward.
“I’m happy things are beginning to change and players don’t have to be dependent on their federations for income from World Cup appearances alone,” she told BBC Sport Africa.
“It really is interesting to see such development because it will serve as a motivation to the players.”
Reigning African champions South Africa are joined by Nigeria, who have been ever-presents at the event, plus Morocco and Zambia at this year’s tournament co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
The minimum $30,000 in direct prize money is more than twice the average salary of $14,000 for paid players surveyed in FIFA’s 2022 benchmarking report.
With a lack of sponsorship, investment and a growing number of struggling clubs on the continent, many Africa-based footballers often rely on earnings from the national teams.
Africa’s most successful national side, Nigeria’s women’s team – the Super Falcons – have been in the public eye previously after protests by players relating to unpaid bonuses and allowances at continental and global tournaments.
At the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, the Nigeria players threatened a sit-in protest over unpaid salaries and bonuses after their last-16 elimination by Germany.
But Oshoala, who made scoring appearances at the 2015 and 2019 World Cup tournaments, is confident the latest Fifa distribution model, which has been endorsed by global players union Fifpro, can prevent another embarrassment.
“It’s not always a good look to stage protests because all the players want to do is focus on the football,” the Barcelona star added.
Cash boost for African federations
For the upcoming Women’s World Cup, member associations will also receive increased funding based on performance, with winners taking home $4.29m and delegations earning $1.56m for participating in the group stage.
Should the African teams progress beyond the group stages, there is an increased $1.87m and $2.18m on offer for the federations in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively.
Fifa has made it clear to national federations that it expects that the amount retained by member associations will be reinvested in their footballing activities, including coaching staff, grassroots projects, youth national teams and women’s football capacity-building programmes.
This move will help improve the game on the African continent, according to Oshoala, a two-time European Women’s Champions League winner with Barcelona.
“This means Fifa will monitor these funds and make sure they’re channelled to the right places and players can also benefit from it individually,” she said.
The tournament will begin on July 20, with Nigeria opening their campaign against Canada in Melbourne a day later before facing Australia and the Republic of Ireland in Brisbane.
Nigeria are the only African team to have played in all eight Women’s World Cups since 1991, but the Super Falcons have failed to translate their continental dominance to the world stage.
Their best performance at the World Cup came when reaching the quarter-finals in 1999, while they also reached the knockout stages in 2019, losing 3-0 to Germany.
For their second appearance on the World Cup stage, South Africa have been paired in a tricky Group G against Sweden, Italy and Argentina.
Debutants Zambia will be facing 2011 world champions Japan, Spain and Costa Rica in Group C.
Africa’s other representative Morocco will battle two-time World Cup winners Germany, Colombia and South Korea in Group H.
Players from teams who reach the last-16 stage each receive $60,000, while $90,000 will be paid to those in the quarter-finals.
