The DFB should cut the men’s premiums and distribute them among the women

Even the Chancellor felt called upon to express his opinion on the debate: “It’s 2022. Women and men should be paid equally. That also applies to sport, especially for national teams,” Olaf Scholz said on Twitter this week. DFB men’s manager Oliver Bierhoff quickly countered that he would like to speak to Mr. Scholz about it. He could show him some numbers there.

What Bierhoff Scholz would probably want to show: If the men’s selection wins the World Cup title in Qatar in winter, Fifa will transfer around 42 million euros. If the German women are now European champions in England, there would only be 2.1 million from Uefa.

The DFB cannot hide behind the income

At first glance, the unequal pay between men and women makes perfect sense. In the private sector, the argument pulls, too. Far fewer people are interested in the women’s Bundesliga, not nearly as many tickets are sold, and hardly any TV money comes in. Of course, less income to distribute also means that less reaches the players. The salaries between women and men are quite rightly different here.

But the DFB is not a private company. The DFB is a club and can therefore not simply hide behind the different income. The “realization of equal rights for men and women” is even a separate point in the association’s statutes (paragraph 4, paragraph 2C).

To be fair, the DFB is already doing a lot on this front. The women would get 60,000 euros apiece for a European Championship victory this year. The men would have received 400,000 last year. In percentage terms, however, the DFB pays out a larger part of the direct income for women. So far so good.

Why do men get bonuses at all?

But I would like to raise the question: why do men get so much money from the DFB? I dare say: No DFB kicker would say: “No bonuses? No, I’d rather go on holiday to Ibiza this summer!” And if you do, have fun with the “Bild” newspaper. I also can’t imagine anyone playing better in a World Cup semi-final because they want to buy another Bentley with their bonus.

Every national team player is a professional footballer, earns millions a year and – as long as he doesn’t follow some erroneous examples of his profession – never has to worry about money again. Trained animal keepers and students play in the selection for the women (you can read more about this here in a photo series). In the meantime, more and more kickers can make a living from it, a start has been made. But the differences are still immense.

In a club, this cannot be changed fairly due to the economic efficiency described above. But this is exactly where the DFB is required and can make a real contribution to the structural improvement of women’s football. The association could set a sign for all the kicking girls out there on the football pitches, could say to them: At least at the very top, your dreams meet those of the boys. Big money is waiting for you, at least in the national team.

The DFB has a duty

Because one thing is clear: the DFB men do not need these bonuses. Professional football is a global money machine, the association doesn’t have to keep pumping it in – regardless of the fact that the money was made through men’s football. Instead, create new incentives for women! It doesn’t have to be just bonuses, encourage more special academies and academies for girls! The DFB should use this money to build and expand the structures that make men’s football so much better than women’s football – instead of throwing it after rich kickers without need. Then the association would really get closer to its goal of achieving equality between men and women in football. In my eyes, that’s his damn duty.