The union representing players on the US men’s soccer team on Tuesday slammed “false accounting” used by US Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro in claiming that the federation had paid women players more than their male counterparts.
Cordeiro made the claim on Monday in an open letter to federation members, with mediation looming in a federal lawsuit filed by players on the women’s team that accuses the body of “institutionalized gender discrimination” that includes inequitable compensation when compared to players on the men’s national team.
“This is more of the same from a federation that is constantly in disputes and litigation, and focuses on increasing revenue and profits without any idea how to use that money to grow the sport,” the union said in a statement. “The women’s national team players deserve equal pay and are right to pursue a legal remedy from the courts or [US] Congress.”
The issue was center stage as the US triumphed in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France last month, with chants of “equal pay” raining down on the champions after they defeated the Netherlands in the final.
Lawyers for the women players on March 8 filed a lawsuit demanding equal pay and conditions to their less-successful male counterparts.
US lawmakers have proposed legislation that would block federal funding for the men’s 2026 FIFA World Cup — to be hosted jointly by the US, Mexico and Canada — until the federation pays its women’s national team “fair and equitable wages.”
Cordeiro on Monday said that women players were paid US$34.1 million by the federation from 2010 to last year in salaries and bonuses — including National Women’s Soccer League salaries for national team members — while members of the men’s national team were paid US$26.4 million over the same period.
The figures did not include bonuses received by the US body from FIFA for World Cup performances, because the federation could not be held responsible for the disparity in those sums, Cordeiro said.
When the bonuses are included, members of the men’s team earned a combined US$41 million from 2010 to last year, while the women received US$39.7 million.
The women have won back-to-back Women’s World Cup titles, while the men failed to qualify for last year’s World Cup in Russia.
Molly Levinson, a spokesperson for the women players, called the figures cited by Cordeiro “utterly false” and said that inclusion of the league salaries inflated their compensation.
“Any apples-to-apples comparison shows that the men earn far more than the women,” she said.
The union also said that the figures were suspect.
“The Cordeiro letter includes the claim that the USWNT [US women’s national team] lost US$27 million over the past 11 years, but admits that is based on false accounting, because the federation ‘traditionally’ does not count any of the sponsorship, television or marketing money the federation generates from USWNT and USMNT [US men’s national team] players and their games,” the union said.
“What US sports team makes money if they don’t count television, sponsorship and marketing revenue?” it added.
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