After years of massive pressure from female football national players, the United States men’s and women’s national soccer teams will get equal pay under a “historic” agreement announced by the US Soccer Federation recently.
While announcing the agreement, the Federation said the development makes the US Soccer Federation the first Soccer Federation in the world to equalize World Cup prize money awarded to men’s and women’s teams.
US Soccer President, Cindy Parlow Cone, said: “This is a truly historic moment. These agreements have changed the game forever here in the United States and have the potential to change the game around the world.”
In February 2022, the US national women’s team won a $24 million payout and was promised equal pay in a landmark settlement with US Soccer, that was dependent on the new collective bargaining agreement.
The issue of World Cup prize money had constituted a major part of the lawsuit filed by the women’s team in 2019, alleging the federation of “stubbornly refusing” to pay its men and women’s players equally.
US Soccer Federation said the terms of the recent agreement include “identical compensation for all competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, and the introduction of the same commercial revenue sharing mechanism for both teams.”
While reacting to the agreement, US women’s captain, Becky Sauerbrunn said: “The accomplishments in this CBA (collective bargaining agreement) are a testament to the incredible efforts of WNT players on and off the field.”
She added that she hoped the agreement “will similarly serve as the foundation for the continued growth of women’s soccer both in the United States and abroad.”
