Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is in advanced talks with the FA to join Gareth Southgate and his staff. He will take over for Chris Powell, who has completed his agreed-upon cycle after the World Cup and whose contract has ended. Hasselbaink, who has 23 caps for the Netherlands and nine international goals to his name, has been out of work since stepping down as manager of Burton Albion last September. His two stints as Burton manager mean he is well acquainted with England’s base at Saint George’s Park, where the League One club trains just a few miles away in Burton-upon-Trent.
Gareth Southgate approached Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink about the position after Powell, who has been on the England coaching staff for the last two major championships, told Southgate that he wants to focus on his work as head of coaching at Tottenham’s academy. The formal documentation for the transaction has yet to be completed. It demonstrates the FA’s commitment to increasing diversity in football by allowing more Black coaches to work with England’s teams. Former England international Ashley Cole and ex-Guyana manager Michael Johnson join Joleon Lescott on the U21s coaching staff. England junior teams have included Jason Euell, Marcus Bignot, Omer Riza, and Matthew Thorpe.
Meanwhile, women’s World Cup teams have sought equal World Cup prize money. The letter, which also requests equitable treatment and circumstances for women’s teams competing in soccer’s most prestigious tournament, was written to the sport’s international governing body in October, a month before the start of the men’s World Cup in Qatar.
The decision comes as there is growing pressure on FIFA to make the prize money for the two competitions more equitable. Argentina won the men’s World Cup in Qatar for $42 million out of a $440 million prize pool. In comparison, the US women’s national team got $4 million out of a $30 million prize pool for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France. The prize money for the women’s event this summer has yet to be determined. Under their landmark collective bargaining agreements struck last year, the US men’s and women’s national teams will split the World Cup prize money evenly after US Soccer deducts a portion.
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