26 Dec 2013

Ibrahimovic: Male players deserve more recognition than women

12:23 pm on 26 December 2013

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic says players in the country's men's football team deserve to get more recognition than their female counterparts and people should stop whipping up a gender storm about it.

The Sweden captain spoke out after his country's FA was slammed for presenting midfielder Anders Svensson with a new Volvo for breaking Thomas Ravelli's record of 143 international caps.

However, when women's midfielder Therese Sjogran failed to get similar recognition at the same soccer gala despite earning a record 187 caps, the move was widely criticised.

Ibrahimovic, who plays for French champions Paris Saint Germain, says it is not possible to compare men's and women's football.

He told the Expressen newspaper that when he is in Europe he is compared to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo but when he is in Sweden he is compared to a female player, and believes players should be rewarded in relation to what they generate financially.