Anger at Fifa for its Women’s World Cup tax exemption when players had to pay

Spain triumphed at the World Cup but their players, like all who took part in games in Australia, had to pay tax on earnings. Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA

Fifa has been heavily criticised for negotiating an eight‑and‑a‑half‑year tax exemption for the 2023 Women’s World Cup when the players in Australia ended up paying 32.5% of their match fee income to the country’s tax office (ATO).

Football’s world governing body is exempt from paying tax on any income in or from Australia from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2028 but, as the Guardian revealed last month, players from several countries were forced to pay almost a third of their match fee income to the ATO. This was in stark contrast to the co-hosts New Zealand, whose Inland Revenue Department exempted Fifa and the players from all taxes.