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China's ace striker Ma Xiaoxu and her fellow national team-mates have been the shining lights of international women's football this year. However, off the field, they continue to battle a gloomy life of poverty overshadowed by their wealthy male counterparts.

Ma claimed the two most prestigious individual honours at the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Championship in Russia last month including the Golden Ball and the Golden Shoe. The 18-year-old inspired China to win an unexpected silver medal with five goals and two assists. Ma and team-mate Han Duan, have both been nominated for this year's FIFA Women Player of the Year award.

Last week, the Asian Football Confederation also nominated Ma for the region's Women Player of the Year, as well as the candidate for best Youth Player. This is an award usually bestowed upon male players.

Unfortunately, the impressive personal performances and team achievements are not enough to financially reward the women stars.

Ma made headlines this month after she refused to accept a 1,500-yuan-per-month (US$187) offer from her club Dalian Shide. She reportedly wanted at least 3,000 yuan (US$375) a month.

The top US national women team's players are paid US$5,800 a month plus bonuses if they win tournaments.

Ma's payment row highlighted the low living conditions of China's top female footballers, who are hoping to win nation's first eve Women's World Cup next year on home soil.

Ma became one of the world's biggest stars after Sun Wen's retirement, and spearheaded China's U-17 team into the 2004 World Championship final. The striker also played a core role in China's two top podium finishes at the Asian Youth Championships and Asian Cup.

But despite the international glory, club payments are only a fraction of the male salaries.

The average male club player makes hundreds of thousands of yuan annually, even though the men have been under constant criticism for their lacklustre international performances, match-fixing and gambling since going professional 12 years ago

"Actually, Ma's income is more than many other women's players. Last year, it was 500 yuan. 1,500 is the top income at her age in China," Zhang Jianqiang, director of women's football department of China Football Association told reporter from Southern Weekly.

Yue Min, another key player in Russia's tournament, is a member of a club in China's second division league and her monthly income is 200 yuan (US$25), also the most in the club. "Coach gave me some money to buy some sunscreen to protect my skin. Other teammates only get 100 yuan (US$12.5)," Yue said.

No marketing, no money

China's women's football reached its peak in 1999 when the national team won world titles, and players, such as Sun and Gao Hong gained international fame with their sophisticated techniques and professionalism.

They took home the silver medal in the 1996 Olympics and scored second place in the 1999 World Cup. Sun was crowned FIFA Women's Player of the 20th Century in 2000. The player was paid about 1,000 yuan (US$125) monthly on the Chinese national team before joining the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) in the US.

Sun's and Gao's achievements injected life and money into the women's market and the budding women's league drew increasing attention from fans and sponsors. But things have changed since the retirement of this golden generation.

The stadium was almost empty at last month's National Women's Football Championships and most spectators were players and coaches on the bench.

"The organizers did not think about the ticket sales. There are rarely people coming to watch the competition even if we offer free tickets," an official from the hosting stadium was quoted as saying.

Even the international matches failed to arouse any interests of fans. According to Tianjin Jin Wan Bao newspaper, the May's friendly between China and DPRK in Tianjin sold less than 100 tickets, producing an embarrassing income of 300 yuan (US$37).

At the end of September, Tianjin hosted the South-North Star Challenge and chose to deliver ticket free of charge, only to see less than 1,000 people come to the stadium.

"If a company wants to sponsor a women's team, it will choose an agency to have a marketing investigation," Zhang said.

"The feedback is zero and there will be no return after investing money on women's football. That is the truth.

"As an industry, the further development is from three segments - player transfers, broadcasting and tickets. But women's football has none of the three factors. So it is difficult to manage a club," said Cai Wei, manager of Jiangsu club.

(China Daily October 17, 2006)