In Casablanca
Former Harambee Starlets captain, Doreen “Dodo” Nabwire, believes equal pay for female footballers is achievable, saying women deserve the same respect, pay, opportunities for growth and investment in the sport as their male counterparts.
Equal pay remains a major challenge in global sport despite growing investment in women’s competitions.
Nabwire, who works as Fifa Lead for Women’s Football Development in Africa, spoke to Nation Sport at Fifa’s Regional Office for Africa at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Salé, Morocco.
The regional office, opened on July 26, 2025, serves as Fifa’s administrative and technical hub for its African member associations. Nabwire says women’s football has made huge progress but still faces inequality in remuneration and recognition.
“We are not trying to be men. We simply love the sport and believe it deserves the same respect. We need to be given a chance to showcase our talent and pursue our dreams. Women’s football is growing,” Nabwire who started playing football at Maina Wanjigi High School in Nairobi said.
She played for Mathare United Women in the Kenyan league, German teams FC Köln and Werder Bremen, and Dutch team Zwolle. She credits Football Kenya Federation (FKF) with laying structures that have helped the women’s game grow, but believes more support is still needed.
In 2009, the mother of three became the first Kenyan woman to play professional football in Europe after she joined Werder Bremen.
“During my time under former FKF president Nick Mwendwa, we were deliberate in creating structures for women’s football, especially by organizing the women’s league under the same categories as the men’s. The support should also be uniform. However, we still have to keep reminding people that we are here and deserve recognition. Slowly, though, we are making progress,” she said.
Nabwire noted that women’s football has delivered some of Kenya’s greatest milestones on the international stage.
“As a country, it is women’s football that has taken us to the global stage. We have played at the Fifa Women’s World Cup at junior level, and while the senior team lost 4-0 to Morocco in their opening match at Wafcon, Starlets still earned their place at the tournament through qualification.”
Former Harambee Starlets captain Doreen Nabwire during an exclusive interview with Nation Sport at Fifa's Regional Office for Africa at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Salé, Morocco, on July 29, 2026.
Photo credit: Toto Arege | Nation Media Group
She pointed to countries such as the United States and Sweden, where women footballers have successfully fought for equal pay, saying female players put in the same effort and commitment as men.
“They train just as hard, spend the same time on the pitch and make the same sacrifices. Why shouldn’t they be paid equally? It can be done. What is needed is commitment and the willingness to invest in women’s football,” she said.
Nabwire said sustained investment, stronger commercial partnerships and greater media visibility are crucial in narrowing the gap between the men’s and women’s game, insisting equal pay is achievable if football stakeholders remain committed to developing the women’s game.
She has challenged Kenyan football authorities to improve the welfare of women footballers, saying the payment disputes that rocked Starlets before their departure for France should never have happened.
“It’s not just about going out to play. Players need to feel valued and supported. The demonstrations over unpaid allowances on the very day the team was due to leave for such a major tournament were unfortunate. Situations like that affect morale and should not happen in this day and age,” she says.
“If players know they are supported, they can focus fully on football and perform better. During our playing days we never enjoyed that level of support. Perhaps if we had, we would have achieved even more,” she added.
A recent survey by Sporting Intelligence found elite female athletes earned, on average, just one per cent of what men made, while no woman appeared on Forbes 2025 list of the world’s 50 highest-paid athletes. The gap is reflected in prize money. The 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup offered a record $150 million (Sh19.5 billion), still far below the $440 million (Sh57.2 billion) awarded at the 2022 men’s tournament.
Progress has been made, with tennis, Norway and several football associations adopting equal pay policies. USA women’s team also secured a landmark equal-pay settlement in 2022.
However, disparities persist. The average NBA player earns about 80 times more than the average WNBA player, while a FIFPRO survey found 29 percent of women footballers had not been paid by their national teams for World Cup qualifying matches.
Caf has significantly increased investment in women’s football, making the 2026 Wafcon the richest edition in the tournament’s history. The total prize fund has risen by 45 per cent to $3.475m (Sh448.3 m), with the increased financial package aimed at improving support for players, coaches and technical staff across Africa When Wafcon was launched in 1991, prize money was either minimal or non-existent.
By the 2018 tournament, the total prize fund had grown to $975,000 (Sh125.8 m), with champions Nigeria taking home $300,000 (Sh38.7 m). Caf has since accelerated investment in the women’s game.
