Women players suing the US Soccer Federation (USSF) said in in court documents filed on Tuesday that the federation has acknowledged that the jobs of male and female soccer players require equal skill.
The language seemed to signal a decrease in tension between the parties after language in documents filed by the federation’s lawyers earlier last month provoked widespread outrage in saying that playing on the men’s national team required a higher level of skill based on speed and strength and carried greater responsibility.
The fierce backlash — not only from the women players, but also from sponsors such as Coca-Cola — ultimately forced federation president Carlos Cordeiro to resign. He was replaced by vice president Cindy Parlow Cone, a former US international.
The federation brought in new legal counsel, which has focused in court filings on refuting the plaintiffs’ claims that it contravened the US Equal Pay Act and other anti-discrimination legislation.
“The parties have significantly narrowed the issues to be tried by way of discovery and briefing,” Tuesday’s filing from the players’ lawyers said. “The USSF no longer disputes that the jobs of the WNT [US women’s national team] and MNT [US men’s national team] players require equal skill, effort and responsibility — and therefore have necessarily conceded that they perform equal work.”
The documents filed by the federation outlining the case that they plan to make said that the female players had not identified comparable male counterparts under US law — which requires equal payment for men and women working “in the same establishment.”
“The undisputed facts show that the WNT and MNT are both geographically and operationally distinct,” the federation filing said. “The WNT and MNT play in different venues in different cities [and often different countries], and participate in separate competitions against completely different pools of opponents.”
The federation again stated that apparent pay discrepancies are due to a different pay structure negotiated by the women’s union.
The case is set to go to trial on May 5.
Last week, Parlow Cone told reporters that she would like to settle the case sooner.
“I don’t think a trial is good for either party or for soccer, both in this country or internationally,” she said. “Obviously our women’s team is the best team in the world and I am hopeful that we can find a resolution before this goes to trial.”
Tuesday’s filings also included potential witnesses for both sides. The lists included all four class representatives in the lawsuit: Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn.
Former US coach Jill Ellis, Cordeiro and another former federation president, Sunil Gulati, could also appear.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
RSS