The Republic of Ireland's men and women players will receive equal pay under a deal agreed with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).
The agreement between the women's and men's teams, represented by captains Katie McCabe and Seamus Coleman and players advisor Ciaran Medlar, and FAI chief executive Jonathan Hill was reached ahead of the squads' upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The men's side agreed to reduce their international fees while the FAI will match the contribution in order to increase the women's squads' amount to the same match fee.
EQUAL PAY AGREED 🇮🇪
A historic day for Irish football as the FAI agrees equal pay deal with WNT & MNT squads ahead of their World Cup qualifiers 🤝
Read More 👉 https://t.co/6Hiw85DxSS#WeAreOne | #COYBIG | #COYGIG pic.twitter.com/w8N0JXhC10— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) August 30, 2021
The change will come into effect for the September internationals and an equality approach has also been agreed regarding qualification for any future tournaments.
"This is a great day for Irish football", Arsenal's McCabe said. "We have taken a huge step forward with this deal and have shown the world what can be achieved through unity as we offer male and female international players the same opportunities.
"I am very proud as Ireland captain of the work that has been put in to get us to this point, not just by the current team but by so many Irish players in the past. They are the real heroes in this story, they took a stand and they passed on the baton to the current generation."
Progressive
McCabe added: "Seamus Coleman and his team-mates in the Senior Men’s squad also deserve credit for being brave enough to support us in such a progressive way on this issue. It is really appreciated."
Coleman said the men's squad are delighted to do what they can to ensure their fellow international players are "treated equally and fairly", adding they "remain fully committed to doing whatever we can to achieve that goal together".
"This deal is the right one for everyone who plays international football for Ireland, no matter which team they represent. We have been working towards this agreement for some time now with Katie, Jonathan and Ciaran and I hope this acts as an inspiration to many other nations to follow suit," Coleman said.
Hill confirmed the FAI board voted unanimously in favour of the decision. "This is another important milestone in the FAI’s own transformation journey and I believe this equal pay programme shows us to be the progressive footballing nation we have always aspired to be," he said.
Katie and her team-mates are role models to all the young girls playing football in Ireland.
"It is also another step forward in our key strategic goal to grow the women’s game in Ireland in a sustainable and systematic way. For some months now, I have been working with Katie, Seamus and Ciaran on this agreement.
"Katie and her team-mates are role models to all the young girls playing football in Ireland whilst the actions of Seamus and his fellow players in our Senior Men’s squad to make this equal pay proposition possible should not be underestimated," Hill added.
The Republic of Ireland Senior Men next line out at home against Portugal on Wednesday, September 1st, while the Senior Women face Georgia away on Friday, September 17th.
