The Nepali women’s football team captain Anu Lama on Tuesday asked for equal prize money in football. 

The Nepal skipper was referring tot the top-tier men’s football league champion, who bagged a whooping Rs 10 million prize money while the winner of the women’s team walked away with just Rs 200,000.  Speaking during ‘Empowering Girls Through Soccer’, Lama pointed out on the gulf between the men’s and women’s football in terms of not only money but also in the number of tournaments, exposure and facilities received. 

“What we receive in comparison to the men’s team is peanuts. We want to be treated equally in prize money and other training facilities,” said Lama. Nepali midfielder Rohit Chand, and two American footballers—Loorrie Fair and Tracy Noonan—also spoke at length about the difference in the number of tournaments and lack of an academy for women and ways to empower them through sports. 

Noonan, also a member of the American team that won Fifa Women’s World Cup in 1999, said that a government policy to ensure equal funding and participation for men and woman had played a crucial role in promoting female athletes in the United States. “Title IX ensured we got equal funding which put us in par with the men in schools and college. National policies like Title IX can go a long way in providing women the entry into sports,” sated Noonan. 

Noonan further added that as professionals the American women team had to fight their own battle for equal benefits and getting to play in the best stadium despite drawing capacity crowd in all major stadiums.  Fair said that the winners of the Women’s Championship team were rewarded the same amount the men’s team had received for just qualifying for the tournament. She also stressed on providing safe supportive environment from home and society for women to find their true potential in sports. 

Chand said that the women’s team have the potential to be the best in the South Asian region provided they receive better training and exposure. Women’s team have won silver medal in the last four edition of the Saff Championship.