The 2022 Women’s Asian Cup kicks off in India next week, however the prize money has revealed a major disparity between the women’s and men’s competitions.

The winner of the cup will receive USD$1 million, with runner up and semi finalists winning USD$500,000 and USD$150,000, respectively.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said: “The AFC is committed towards growing women’s football across Asia at all levels and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup has been at the forefront of providing a platform for Asia’s current and new generation of stars to shine.”

However, in 2019, the men’s Asian Cup, the winner received USD$5 million, USD$4 million more than women, with runners-up receiving USD$3 million, USD$2.5 million more.

This has highlighted a major pay gap between genders for the competition, where similar competitions are working towards bridging the gap.

Yet until this year, participants in the Women’s Asian Cup weren’t even awarded prize money, while male competitors were.

Outside of the AFC, at the 2019 FIFA World Cup, the winning team received USD$38 million, while the winner of the FIFA Women’s Wold Cup received USD$4 million.

The total amount of prize money for the men’s tournament is USD$400 million, while the total prize money of the women’s tournament is USD$30 million.