US Football Offers Equal Pay To Men, Women Teams
The US Soccer Federation said it has offered identical contract proposals to the respective men’s and women’s players associations, in an effort to bring the two parties under one collective bargaining agreement (CBA) structure.
“US Soccer firmly believes that the best path forward for all involved, and for the future of the sport in the United States, is a single pay structure for both senior national teams,” US Soccer said in a written statement.
US Soccer also said it wanted both players associations to “to join the Federation in finding a way to equalize FIFA World Cup prize money between the USMNT and the USWNT.”
“US Soccer will not agree to any collective bargaining agreement that does not take the important step of equalizing FIFA World Cup prize money,” the Federation said.
The announcement comes roughly two and a half years after the four-time World Cup winning US Women’s National Team (USWNT) sued the national governing body, seeking $66 million in damages under the Equal Pay Act, alleging gender discrimination in compensation and nearly every other aspect of playing conditions.
A judge last year threw out the players’ claims that they were underpaid compared with the men’s national team. The USWNT filed an opening brief in the appeal of their lawsuit in July.
A spokesperson for the USWNT players did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chidi Nwoke/Reuters.
