The salary of the leading players
Ada Hegerberg (23 years old), current women’s Ballon d’Or, is the highest-paid soccer player on the planet. In the ranks of Olympique Lyonnais, one of the teams with the most tradition and the best record in Europe, the footballer earns about 400,000 euros per year.
The two players follow closely in this classification, and they are Amandine Henry, with a salary of 360,000 euros, and Wendie Renard, who has an income of 348,000 euros. Only the players’ wages are included in these figures, without considering other income sources, such as advertising.
Data related to this type’s contracts are included in what the Sky Blue player, Carli Lloyd, the fourth-highest paid, and the Orlando Pride player, Marta Vieira da Silva, who closes the top five for women, earn. According to the same publication, the American has an estimated 345,000 euros, while the Brazilian receives around 340,000 euros.
Comparison with male soccer stars
The data can hardly be compared with that of the highest-paid players in men’s soccer. Counting all their income sources, which include in addition to their salary their substantial advertising contracts, France Football drew up a list this year that placed Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as leaders of the ranking, both exceeding the barrier of 100 million euros. The Argentine’s income is estimated at 130 million euros, while the Portuguese lags behind with 113 million euros, according to El Economista. To get an idea, the soccer player who earns the most in the world, Ada Hegerberg, wins in a year what Leo Messi does in a day approximately.
Comparing these data with those of the players mentioned above, except Hegerberg, does not reach 400,000 euros, we find salaries two hundred times higher for the players. A minor difference if we compare it with the wages of players like Gerard Piqué (27 million euros) or Sergio Ramos (23 million euros); Despite this, the difference is still stratospheric.
The situation is even more critical in the lower echelons of this sport. In elite women’s football, 49% of the players do not even receive a salary. And in the case of 31% of the players who receive it, this does not reach 500 euros, according to a study carried out by the AFE (Association of Spanish Soccer Players) union.
This situation will radically change this year in our country with the inclusion of soccer players in a collective agreement, which they are currently negotiating, guaranteeing a minimum salary of 20,000 euros per year, slightly higher than the SMI, says 20 Minutes. A significant step, but still far from the income guaranteed by law for footballers in the First Division (150,000 euros) and Second Division (77,500 euros).
The awards section is also different, with a vast difference. Thus, the winner of La Liga Santander earns about 20 million euros, while the club that wins the women’s competition, Liga Iberdrola, earns a meager 1,300 euros, about 54 euros per player.
The growth of women’s football is not yet sufficiently reflected in the salary of its protagonists. This sport is still very far away compared to others where, although this controversy also exists, it is not so pronounced. Such example is tennis, where both the male winner, Novak Djokovic, and the winner of the female draw, the Romanian Simona Halep, received the same prize of 2,622,467 euros in the Wimbledon tournament.
