Throughout 2017 women's football teams have been standing up for parity with their male counterparts on the international stage -- but in London on Wednesday pen was put to paper on a historic deal which could prove significant in the fight for equality in sport.

At the Norwegian Embassy in Britain's capital, Norway's men's and women's captains -- Stefan Johansen and Maren Mjelde -- and representatives of the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) and Norway's players' association (NISO) signed an agreement on equal pay in a deal thought to be the first of its kind in international football.

The agreement, says the Norwegian FA, will mean a pay rise of 2.5 million Norwegian kroner ($302,750) in 2018 for the women's team, with both national teams receiving six million kroner ($726,900) each next year.
Parity was achieved after the 550,000 kroner ($60,000) Norway's male players receive for commercial activities was switched to the women's team. "I am proud to be a Norwegian football player," Norway captain Maren Mjelde said in a statement issued on the Norwegian FA's website.

Making the agreement all the more exceptional is that the proposal for equal pay came from the Norwegian FA, which did not officially recognize women's football until 1976. When the agreement was announced in October, one blogger -- froginthefjord -- quipped: "Norway, the Country where Men are Feminists. Even Footballers."

Courtesy:CNN