The chasm that exists between men’s and women’s pay in football has been addressed by the World Cup-bound Matildas, who have taken their claim for gender equity in prize money to Fifa on the eve of the tournament in France.

Through Professional Footballers Australia, the players’ union, a campaign has been launched that aims to diminish the glaring gap in financial rewards at the World Cup, which has widened over recent years.

Female footballers will begin their tilt at glory when the tournament gets under way on Friday (Saturday AEST), but they will be battling for a fraction of what their male counterparts won during last year’s World Cup in Russia – just 7.5% of the men’s purse.

The current reality is that should the Matildas go all the way in France and win the World Cup, they would be paid half of what the Socceroos received at Russia 2018, where they failed to get out of the group stage.

World Cup pay

Men’s World Cup 2018 prize money pool: $US400m ($A575m)

Women’s World Cup 2019 prize money pool: $US30m ($A43m)

Current gap factoring in number of teams at tournament: $US336m

Australia’s share

Socceroos at Russia 2018: $US8m ($A12m)

Matildas at France 2019: between $US750,000 ($A1.1 m) and $US4m ($A5.8m)

Players’ share

Each Socceroos player at Russia 2018: $US104,000 ($A149,550)

Each Matildas player at France 2019 if they match 2015 performance: $US19,000 ($A27,325)

Each Matildas player if they go out at group state: $US9,800

Each Matildas player if they win the World Cup: $US52,000

Fifa’s largesse

Fifa’s profit in 2015-2018 cycle: $US1.2bn ($A1.7bn)

Fifa’s reported reserves in 2018: $US2.75bn ($A3.95bn)

Having had previous calls for parity fall on deaf ears at Fifa headquarters, the PFA is calling for an immediate doubling of prize money, from $US30m to $US57m and chief executive John Didulica said the case may even be taken to the courts.

“It is the players themselves who are the victims of the discrimination,” Didulica said. “The PFA expressly reserves the rights of the players to have this matter resolved through appropriate means including mediation and arbitration. There is no legal, economic or practical reason why this cannot occur after the tournament.”

Various Matildas players, including captain Sam Kerr, Lisa De Vanna and Tameka Yallop, took to social media to raise awareness of the campaign, asking the question “Is it too much to ask?” under the tagline, “Our goal is now” and with the hashtag #WorldCupEquality.

While the women’s prize money pool has increased 100% since the last edition in Canada four years ago, PFA said that with the men’s also growing (up 12%) it would take until 2039 for pay to become equal.

The issue of pay in women’s football has surfaced in the build-up to the tournament in France. Rated as the world’s best player, Ada Hegerberg, will not feature as she is boycotting the Norway team over women’s pay and conditions, while the US team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against their own federation in March.

Despite the disparities, two Matildas players last week joined a growing global movement to donate 1% of their earnings to a charitable cause.