Wales: Manager Jayne Ludlow would like to see equal pay for players

Wales boss Jayne Ludlow would like to see her players earn equal pay with the men's team for playing for Wales.

England men's and women's senior players are paid the same for representing their country.

Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Brazil have committed to pay parity but the Football Association of Wales (FAW) has not commented on the subject.

"It is a huge topic that obviously needs to be handled with care," Ludlow told BBC Sport Wales.

Ludlow, who named a 26-player squad for Wales' European Women's Championship qualifiers with the Faroe Islands and Norway later this month, says she finds it "strange" that equal pay is still a topic of debate.

"I will sum this one up, for me equality needs to happen across society in general in a very quick way for those who are not benefitting (financially) as they should be because of a gender situation right now," she said.

"It's not just football, it is in all walks of life that people need to wake up and smell the coffee a little bit and realise it is not the dark ages, and if we are doing jobs - male or female - if you are doing similar jobs, then for me it (equal pay) is a no-brainer.

"I find it strange it is still being discussed if I am honest, but that is the world."

Ludlow, who played 61 times for Wales between 1996-2012, says she does not know how much her players are paid in comparison to Ryan Giggs' men's side.

"Thankfully I am not in a position to make those decisions when it comes to the financial situation of what contracts are on offer for our players, for the male players, I have no idea; it is not of interest to me," she added.

"For me it is purely about what players I can select and what performance levels I can get out of them, thankfully.

"It is all about context and I feel uncomfortable talking about something I don't have the full details on.

"I think if you look at every single nation you have to take them as an individual entity.

"It is a huge topic that needs to be handled with care. But I would love the people at the top to hurry up and make these decisions and actually recognise that in this day and age it is not acceptable in any walk of life to polarise people because of gender."