“Put them in charge of training the men's team,” the crowd chanted after the United States Women's National Team secured its fourth stunning victory on Sunday at the World Cup. The enthused crowd inside France's Stade de Lyon started cheering and chanting “equal pay!” for the powerful team. The soccer stars win a big 2-0 victory against the Netherlands, proving their worth as a team which deserves equal pay. The US women are at the top of the game and, the athletes surely claim that they should be paid equal to men.
“At this moment of tremendous pride for America, the sad equation remains all too clear, and Americans won't stand for it anymore. These athletes generate more revenue and garner higher TV ratings but get paid less simply because they are women,” said Molly Levinson, spokeswoman for the USWNT players in their equal pay lawsuit.
“It is time for the Federation to correct this disparity once and for all.”
In March, 28 members of the USWNT sued the US Soccer Federation as they accused discrimination against women who allegedly get less paid than members of the men's national team “for substantially equal work and by denying them at least equal playing, training, and travel conditions; equal promotion of their games; equal support and development for their games; and other terms and conditions of employment equal to the MNT.”
According to the New York Times, the prize for the 2018 men's World Cup was $400 million, while female players will only receive $30 million this year.
The World Cup is over, but the team is fighting its own battle at home. It was a moral boost for them when during the celebrations on Sunday, the crowd at the soccer stadium started claiming “Equal pay” in support of the women's efforts.
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Megan Rapinoe, who scored one of two goals in the final, slammed the FIFA for not respecting female athletes compared to their male counterparts as she deliberately pointed out the disparity between prize money.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the organisations will double it for the next women's World Cup in 2023, but Rapinoe said there still would be a long way to go. “It certainly is not fair,” she said. “We should double it now and use that number to double it or quadruple it for the next time.”
Now videos of fans in the stadium chanting “equal pay” are going viral:
“These disparities are particularly questionable given that U.S. women’s games generated more total revenue than U.S. men’s games over the last three years,” the letter added.
Feature Image Credit: The Guardian
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