United States
United Kingdom
Summary
- USWNT to get $24 million from US Soccer
- Lawsuit was over equal pay and gender discrimination
- Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan happy with result
US Soccer and the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) have announced that they have reached a settlement over the lawsuit filed by USWNT against US Soccer alleging gender discrimination as they were not being paid the same salary as their male counterparts.
US Soccer has agreed to pay USWNT a total of $24 million where $22 million will be given to the players mentioned in the lawsuit and the remaining $2 million will be credited to help USWNT players with their charitable efforts and goals after retiring. The $24 million settlement is subject to the USWNT accepting a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
US Soccer had earlier defended its stance of paying female players a lesser amount than their male counterparts on the basis that men’s football had a lot more fans and viewers around the world, thereby generating more income which justified a higher pay package. The USWNT continued to fight against this view and was happy with the $24 million settlement.
USWNT released a statement and said that it was a tough battle but they never gave up and are happy to see the end result. The statement said that this decision will not only impact the current players named in the lawsuit but also the future generation of girls and women who take up football as a sport. USWNT confirmed that they will continue to push forward to make women’s soccer better in the United States and throughout the world.
Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan Happy with Result
Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan are two of the biggest names in women’s football in the United States and around the world. They threw their support behind USWNT and pushed for equal pay by using their influence to bring attention to the gender discrimination they felt they were facing in the form of unequal pay rights.
Both Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan said they were very happy with this landmark decision and looked forward to seeing women being treated equally and paid equally as their male counterparts. Rapinoe said she expects this decision will have an impact on the US Women’s National Team’s performance and the next generation of players will be even better!
