The five players include Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo and Becky Sauerbrunn. “We work just as much”, Alex revealed on the Today Show March 31.
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“In early January, the Women’s National Team Players Association submitted a reasonable proposal for a new CBA that had equal pay for equal work as its guiding principle”, Jeffrey Kessler, a lawyer for the players said in a statement to ESPN.
“We believe now the time is right because we believe it’s a responsibility for women’s sports, specifically women’s soccer, to really do whatever it takes for equal pay and equal rights and to be treated with respect”, Solo said in the interview with the Today show.
“We have been quite patient over the years with the belief that the federation would do the right thing and compensate us fairly”, Carli Lloyd added. We want to have decent travel accommodation.
In a statement to the press, the U.S Soccer Federation said that it was disappointed with the women’s decision to file a complaint. This is the latest development as tensions escalate between the two sides, and comes after US Soccer filed suit against the USWNT Players Union in February over the validity of the federation’s collective bargaining agreement.
Goalie Solo said: “The numbers speak for themselves”. But that still wasn’t enough to get them the same pay and treatment as the guys, so it’s off to court!
The US Women’s National Soccer team made history for girls everywhere. In 2000, the Olympic and World Cup champion U.S. women’s team went on strike to protest their meager pay compared to the losing U.S. men’s team; U.S. Soccer is trying to head off a similar debacle in the lead-up to this summer’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Last year, a record 26.7 million people watched the women’s team beat Japan in the World Cup final. When the women’s team wins, the players each receive about $1,350. U.S. Soccer will continue to be an advocate on the global soccer stage to influence and develop the women’s game and evolve FIFA’s compensation model.
Women’s national team players may earn $99,000 if they win all 20 matches, while males can earn $263,320 for the same feat-more than 2.5 times higher.
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EEOC spokeswoman Justine Lisser said the Commission reviews allegations and decides whether to launch a full-scale investigation and potentially bring a lawsuit, after trying to settle the case informally. On the other hand, men would earn around $263,320 (more than double) in the same situation, and would still earn $100,000 if they lost all 20 games.
