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FIFA to invest $1B in women's soccer over next 4 years

PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP / Getty

Amid a widespread campaign for equal pay, FIFA plans to invest an additional $500 million into women's soccer over the next four years, the governing body announced Thursday.

Its total contribution during the four-year period will be $1 billion.

The decision comes on the heels of a hugely successful Women's World Cup, which drew 1.12 billion viewers across the globe.

FIFA upped its commitment as the United States women's national team wages a legal battle with the country's soccer federation over gender discrimination. The class-action lawsuit - which was filed in March and will be heard next May - argues that female players should earn as much as their male counterparts.

Ada Hegerberg, a Ballon d'Or winner and star of the women's game, boycotts the Norwegian national team for similar reasons. Though her country has espoused equal pay on the international level, Hegerberg still believes women are underfunded in their domestic league.

Nearly 80% of players in Norway's top women's division, the Toppserien, earn less than $11,590 a year, according to local newspaper VG.

Women in Spain also voted to go on strike over pay and working conditions. The protest could affect participation in the Women's Champions League, which includes Atletico Madrid.

Spain has recently witnessed a rise in interest in the women's game. More than 60,000 people attended a match between Barcelona and Atletico's women's teams at the Wanda Metropolitano in March.

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