The Football Players' Association is seeking a new single contract for the All Whites and Football Ferns.
All Whites captain Ali Riley also plays professionally in Sweden, and travels back to New Zealand to play a home game. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
If it goes ahead it would be a world first for any major sporting code to have male and female players on the same contract.
Players in the national teams are already receiving similar pay levels and have the same protections and image rights, the former Football Fern Sarah Gregorius said.
The main change would be equalising the travel benefits.
It would mean representatives for both teams would receive $115 a day when the national teams are assembled and 40 percent of any FIFA prize-money.
Although, Ms Gregorious pointed out the women’s prize-money was much less than the men’s.
"I think symbolically it's massive to say that here in New Zealand when you're representing, when you're putting on that fern, you are treated the same, there is equality."
The male players, like Chris Wood, had been supportive of the move, she said.
"They really do genuinely get it and they see and understand that their female counterparts are really athletes and should be treated as so."
Ms Gregorious said the national contract was only a small part of a player's income and most money came from professional contracts.
So women players would still receive less money than the men.
"In reality the struggle is real, it's genuine and it is very tough."
Ferns captain Ali Riley told Nine To Noon a single contract would be a big step forward for women football players.
"I can't exaggerate enough, I know it seems small, just about travel but those of us who need to make our money playing professionally are playing in Europe and we travel 48 hours to play a home game in New Zealand."
Ms Riley plays in Sweden and said female players in Europe earn about $30,000 a year before tax.
"We're doing the same thing, putting in the same number of hours as our male counterparts."
She said her club plays in the Champions league where the women’s prize-money is about 0.2 percent of the men’s.
Having equality for players representing New Zealand was an important statement, Riley said.
"Playing for your country is the highest honour in sport. Having the feeling that we're meaningful and that we deserve this, and that we're appreciated, I think can go really far, and yeah, there's still steps to be taken but I still think this will make a really big difference."
Human Rights Commissioner David Rutherford said paying players the same sent a message of equal opportunity.
"The Black Ferns team that won the World Cup flew economy. There's the equity side of it; the All Blacks don't fly economy. I'm sure that's going to be something that the players unions and the rugby union and the football federation will work out... all our sports people are unionised, it's only that ability to collectively voice their views that gets this sort of progress."
He said equal pay for players was part of an overall move to improve equity in sport.
