On Tuesday, the United States Football Federation announced that it will offer the same unions of men’s and women’s national team players the same contract proposal.
The news comes after generations of players on the U.S. women’s national team have spoken out about the unequal treatment of the USSF and, more recently, about a series of highly publicized legal proceedings.
“American football strongly believes that the best path to follow for all involved and for the future of sport in the United States is a single compensation structure for both senior national teams,” said a statement from the Federation, which did not publish full details of the contracts.
As of Wednesday morning, male and female player associations have yet to make public comments on the contracts offered. CNBC Make It contacted for comment, but did not receive a response immediately.
If the organizations choose to continue negotiating separately – as do other international football programs – the USSF shared that they will invite the association of female players to participate in contractual negotiations with the men’s association “in the interest of full transparency.”
The Federation also states that it is dedicated to “finding a way to match the FIFA World Cup awards between the USMNT and the USWNT.” During the 2018 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Russia, 32 teams competed for $ 400 million in prizes. The U.S. men’s team was unable to qualify for the tournament, but the champions, France, took home $ 38 million. During the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, 24 teams competed for $ 30 million and the United States took home $ 4 million as champions.
In 2016, five U.S. female players filed a complaint of discrimination with the Employment Opportunities Commission, and in 2019, 28 members of the USWNT filed a lawsuit against the USSF for gender discrimination and unequal pay.
Players claimed that if the men’s and women’s teams won each of the 20 matches outside the tournament required by contract, the women’s team players would win a maximum of $ 99,000 ($ 4,950 per game), while the team’s players male would earn $ 263,320 ($ 13,166) per match).
The two sides mediated the lawsuit, but the talks broke down. Although Federal Judge R. Gary Klausner withdrew the equal pay lawsuits from the lawsuit in 2020, the women appealed the decision in 2021.
In early 2021, a partial agreement was reached on working conditions, which provided women with charter flights, hotel accommodation, selection of premises and support for professional staff equal to that of the national male selection.
“I don’t think there is a really public trial [the USSF’s] best interest [and] hopefully it’s not ours, “Megan Rapinoe, a former USWNT captain, told CNBC Make It in 2019.” Everyone will need a lot of time and energy to go through a whole public process. “
When asked about how women can best negotiate a parenting, Rapinoe gave simple advice: “Don’t back down,” she said. “You’re probably going against your employer or your boss and it can be very discouraging, but believe in yourself and believe in what you’re doing and just don’t back down.”
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