ICC To Give Equal Prize Money To Men And Women In World Cups

In a significant step towards promoting gender equality in sports, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has notified about its decision of prize money equity for both men and women in the World Cups. Women will receive the same prize money as their male counterparts, starting with the women’s T20 World Cup 2024.

The winners of that tournament will take home USD 2.34 million, a 134 per cent increase on the USD one million awarded to Australian women who were the winners of the title in 2023. The runners-up will receive USD 1.17 million, an increase of 134 per cent from USD 5,00,000 awarded to South Africa for their appearance in the final in 2023.

“This move is in line with the ICC’s strategy to prioritise the women’s game and accelerate its growth by 2032. Teams will now receive equal prize money for the equivalent finishing position at comparable events as well as the same amount for winning a match at those events,” as per the statement from the ICC.

The overall prize pot of the upcoming World Cup will be USD 7,958,080, an increase of 225 per cent from last year’s total fund of USD 2.45 million. The two losing semi-finalists will earn USD 675, 000 (up from USD 210 000 in 2023).

The increase in prize money for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 comes in line with the prize pot for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 also increasing to USD 3.5 million in total, as per the ICC. The decision to give equal prize money to both men and women was taken at the ICC annual conference in July 2023.