Millie Bright issues update on England World Cup bonus after dispute with the FA
Millie Bright has revealed England's Lionesses have resolved their World Cup bonuses dispute with the FA.
Bright, temporary captain in place of the injured Leah Williamson, confirmed the news ahead of England's UEFA Nations League clash with Scotland on Friday in Sunderland. The players had paused discussions with the Football Association over performance-related bonuses until after the tournament in Australia.
England reached the final of the World Cup before losing 1-0 to Spain in Sydney, thanks to a first half goal from Olga Carmona. On the eve of their first game Down Under Bright announced, via a joint statement signed by the players on social media, that negotiations between the squad and the FA would be on hold until after the tournament.
The players had said prior to the tournament that their stance was crucial to "the growth of women’s football in England." But an agreement has now been struck ahead of the Lionesses' first game of the new season.
"We’ve come to an agreement, yeah," said Bright. "But I think it is bigger than just the bonus. Like I said it’s about becoming world leaders on and off the pitch.
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"As we know the women’s game is evolving very quickly, all the time and conversations like this need to happen, in order to make sure we’re at the top of our game in all areas.
"The conversation was really positive and as players we feel really confident in the structure we now have in place moving forward."
When asked if that chapter on negotiations was now closed, Bright responded, "Yeah, definitely."
The bonus issue clearly didn't impact on England's performance during the tournament, with Sarina Wiegman's team going extremely close to winning another major trophy. The European Champions were narrowly beaten in the final after getting past Nigeria, Colombia and Australia in the knockout stage.
England also travel to Netherlands after facing Scotland in their battle of Britain clash, in a tricky start to their Nations League campaign. Reaching the final of the new competition would also see Team GB qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games tournament, with Wiegman in charge of the team if they get there.
Although the England manager wasn't involved in the negotiations over bonuses, she was pleased the issue had been resolved.
Sarina Wiegman, manager of England, took her team to the World Cup final this summer (Photo by Naomi Baker - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)"To be honest I was expecting this," said Wiegman. "As I said last week, the conversations were always going well but then the World Cup was ahead of us, so we needed to stop those conversations.
"They didn’t come to an agreement then (before the World Cup) but the communication and connections were there all the time.
"That makes me very happy because it is good for the players and the women’s game to move forward and take the next step. We can focus on the football, which we did anyway in the World Cup too because we were not distracted."
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