International rugby competition Six Nations will not award prize money during this year’s women’s tournament.
Six Nations CEO Ben Morel insisted that any reward would widen the performance gap between the teams competing in the tournament. England is the only team in the tournament to award all its players professional contracts.
“We want to make sure that the weaker unions don’t get a further disadvantage on that, even if limited,” Morel said. “But at the same time, what each union does in terms of compensating and rewarding their players, they’re in a very different situation and all going on to the journey in their respective way.”
Per ITV, Work180, a workplace equity group, found the winners of the men’s 2020 Six Nations received roughly £5 million while the leading women’s team earned nothing.
Figures from the 2022 tournament are not available, but according to The Telegraph, a tenth of Six Nations’ annual revenue from the men’s competition, reportedly near £16 million, will be doled out to teams based on performance.
TikTok recently partnered with Six Nations as the competition’s title sponsor. Still, the women will not see any of the financial contributions from the social media company’s deal, the terms of which have not been been disclosed.
The women’s tournament will conclude Saturday in a matchup between England and France.