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The U.S. national football teams for men and women have struck a deal that closes the controversial pay gap between the teams, an unprecedented step that will equalize both salaries and bonuses, providing a significant boost to the award-winning women’s team.
The deal was part of new collective agreements with the US Football Federation, which were announced on Wednesday morning. It was the culmination of a long battle between the women’s team and the national governing body of sport, which involved a high-ranking case that was settled this year.
The USSF said the agreement makes the United States the first country to pay its men’s and women’s soccer teams equally.
“To finally get to the point where every economic term is the same pay, I’m really proud,” said USSF President Cindy Parlow Cown.
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The new CBA will equal the bonuses for the World Cup, something that Parlow Coon said no other nation has done. The US teams will combine the World Cup bonuses received from FIFA and divide them equally, leveling the unequal playing field set by the World Football Organization.
“It will change the game for what women’s football in general looks like,” said women’s national team striker Margaret Peirce. “It’s historic and I think it’s going to cause a lot of other things in sports, not just in the United States, but worldwide.”
So far, the US men have won much bigger World Cup bonuses than the four-time women’s champions, even in the years when the men did not advance to the group stage of the tournament. FIFA pays much more to men’s teams, citing the fact that the men’s tournament generates significantly more revenue.
FIFA will continue to pay more to federations for the men’s tournament than for women. But under the new CBA, the federation will no longer provide tournament-specific bonuses to each team.
By agreeing to the CBA, the US men are making a significant concession: they will potentially take less money from World Cup bonuses than they would have before, especially if they advance deep into the tournament. Women are likely to receive much higher bonuses.
“The immediate response was, ‘Wait, are we going to give up what we already have?'” Men’s national team defender Walker Zimmerman, a member of the players’ association’s leadership group, said of the new deal. “I fully understand the immediate disappointments. But getting to where we are, I think everyone is really proud to make this deal and be the first to do it. [in the world]”
History of the dispute over equal pay for the US women’s soccer team with US Soccer
The USSF, which has come under significant public and legal pressure, has said it will not agree to a deal with men that does not equal World Cup bonuses.
The winner of the upcoming World Cup for men in Qatar will receive $ 42 million from FIFA’s total prize fund of $ 440. If he qualifies for the quarterfinals, the US men’s team will receive $ 13 million.
That’s more than three times what women in the United States got to win the tournament in 2019, when they reaped $ 4 million from a $ 30 million total prize pool. The winner’s share of next year’s women’s event in Australia and New Zealand has not been finalized, but the total prize pool is $ 60 million, part of the total number of men.
In 2019, the Australian men’s and women’s teams agreed on equal pay and work structure, but not when it came to World Cup bonuses. Under the Australian agreement, teams collect the same percentage of the bonus, but men can bring in much more money due to uneven payouts to FIFA. Norway has also made significant gains in balancing wages.
“We must collectively urge FIFA to equalize working conditions and awards for the two World Cups,” said Peirce. “It’s amazing what the men did; is being evaluated. But we have to push FIFA. “
From the archives: After winning the World Cup like no other, a chant stands out for women in the United States: “Equal pay!”
In addition to the money for the World Cup, the agreements will end the guaranteed salaries for women’s players and instead pay them the same rates as men for achievements such as team selection and team performance. Men do not receive a salary from the USSF, an issue that complicates women’s argument for equal pay.
For such tournaments other than the World Cup, players from both teams will also win equal amounts of the total prize pool. The teams will also share equally the revenue from broadcasting, partners and sponsorship of the USSF and will receive a share of the revenue from tickets sold at USSF home matches. Both teams will receive bonuses for games that are sold out.
CBAs also provide equal playing spaces, staff, charter flights and hotel accommodation.
The agreements come three months after women in the United States reached a $ 24 million agreement with the USSF, ending a six-year case of gender discrimination that reverberated in American sports and beyond.
The agreement was in fact a recognition that the USSF did not pay equally to the women’s team. The women asked for more than $ 66 million in pay, but failed miserably in 2020 when a district judge ruled that they agreed to a different pay structure from the men’s team and actually made more money overall than men.
The USSF claims that paying the same bonuses to women for winning the World Cup that they promised to men will bankrupt the Chicago-based non-profit organization. But the women said the federation was obliged to pay them equally, regardless of FIFA’s bonus structure.
A year ago in France, the women’s national team of the United States began its march to a second consecutive World Cup title. In the players’ own words, this is how they triumphed. (Video: Sarah Hashemi, Thomas Legro / Washington Post)
“The collaboration was really amazing,” Parlow Cown, a former star, said of the talks. “There were difficult conversations and challenging moments and, yes, there were moments when I thought everything would fall apart. But I’m really proud of where we ended up, I’m proud of the men’s team for what we did, I’m proud of the female players who continue to carry the torch for all women. “
The men played under the terms of the CBA, which expired in December 2018. The women’s CBA dropped out this spring.
Zimmerman said he believes the deal will create a bond between teams that have largely worked independently of each other for decades.
“We support them so much; they support us so much, “he said. “It simply came to our notice then. We are excited about the partnership. I really feel like a sense of togetherness that will also take off the field with the camaraderie and pure passion for the game and the growth of the sport here. ”
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