USA men's team hit back at US Soccer's "false accounting" in equal pay suit
On Monday, U.S. Soccer Federation President Carlos Cordeiro released a letter asserting that American soccer’s governing body has—counter to widespread public belief and to the claims in an ongoing lawsuit—paid the U.S. Women’s National Team more than the men’s team in recent years. On Tuesday, the U.S. Men’s National Team joined the back-to-back winners of the Women’s World Cup in disputing that statement, saying they were “not impressed” and that the federation was misrepresenting facts to justify unfair pay.
'The USMNT players were not impressed with US Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro’s letter made public on Monday,” the statement read. “The Federation downplays contributions to the sport when it suits them. 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. One way to increase profit unfairly is to refuse to pay national team players a fair share of the revenue they generate.”
“The Federation downplays contributions to the sport when it suits them,” the USMNT’s statement said. “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.”
USSF spokesman Neil Buethe said in a statement issued to news outlets the counsel for the 2019 Women's World Cup champions "took an aggressive and ultimately unproductive approach that follows months of presenting misleading information to the public in an effort to perpetuate confusion."
USWNT spokeswoman Molly Levinson said in a statement issued to news outelts that the players "will eagerly look forward to a jury trial."
Sounds like mediation is not going well for the #USWNT players and the federation. Statement from Molly Levinson, just in.
"We want all of our fans, sponsors, peers around the world, and women everywhere to know we are undaunted and will eagerly look forward to a jury trial." pic.twitter.com/AHkDKv3yZF
— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) August 14, 2019
The strongly worded statement came in response to a letter released on Monday by the US Soccer president, Carlos Cordeiro, which said the federation has paid out $34.1m in salary and game bonuses to the women as opposed to $26.4m paid to the men. Those figures do not include benefits received only by the women, like healthcare.
As both the women’s and men’s team pointed out, the federation’s numbers are pulled from a complicated mix of statistics to bolster a certain argument—and the teams don’t believe they contradict the view that the women aren’t being paid fairly. “For every game a man plays on the MNT he makes a higher base salary payment than a woman on the WNT,” Molly Levinson, a spokeswoman for the women players, said. “For every comparable win or tie, his bonus is higher. That is the very definition of gender discrimination. For the USSF to believe otherwise, is disheartening but it only increases our determination to obtain true equal pay.”
The numbers aren’t easy to compare, either in terms of revenue or pay. When it comes to the finances of the two national teams, one has to factor in salaries, bonuses, tournaments, amount of play, ticket sales, opponents and locations, sponsorships, broadcast rights, investment, two professional leagues, the separate U.S. federation, and the sport’s international governing body.
First, the matter of pay. The compensation structures of the two teams (arranged through different collective bargaining agreements) mandate that the women are paid a $100,000 salary and bonuses for games, while men are paid only in bonuses. The total sum also includes smaller salaries for players in the National Women’s Soccer League. (U.S. Soccer pays no salaries for Major League Soccer players.) But, as supporters of the USWNT’s campaign have argued, the disparity has to do with the bonuses available to men for participating in and performing well in competitions. When those bonuses were factored in, they say, men walk away with more, even when they perform worse than the women.
US Soccer said it pays the women’s national team players a base salary of $100,000 per year, and an additional $67,500 to $72,500 per player as a salary for playing in the National Women’s Soccer League. The women also have healthcare benefits and a retirement plan.
Conversely, players on the men’s national team are paid by training camp call-ups, game appearances and through performance bonuses. The federation says the men have the ability to earn higher bonuses that the women. The collective bargaining agreements are not made public, and US Soccer did not provide details about the men’s bonus structure.
USSF also says the men’s team generates more revenue. The women’s team generated $101.3m over the course of 238 games between 2009 and 2019 while the men generated $185.7m over 191 games, according to the federation.
The analysis did not include prize money for tournaments like the World Cup, because those funds are determined by Fifa, soccer’s international governing body, and not US Soccer.
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'The USMNT players were not impressed with US Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro’s letter made public on Monday,” the statement read. “The Federation downplays contributions to the sport when it suits them. 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. One way to increase profit unfairly is to refuse to pay national team players a fair share of the revenue they generate.”
“The Federation downplays contributions to the sport when it suits them,” the USMNT’s statement said. “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.”
USSF spokesman Neil Buethe said in a statement issued to news outlets the counsel for the 2019 Women's World Cup champions "took an aggressive and ultimately unproductive approach that follows months of presenting misleading information to the public in an effort to perpetuate confusion."
USWNT spokeswoman Molly Levinson said in a statement issued to news outelts that the players "will eagerly look forward to a jury trial."
Sounds like mediation is not going well for the #USWNT players and the federation. Statement from Molly Levinson, just in.
"We want all of our fans, sponsors, peers around the world, and women everywhere to know we are undaunted and will eagerly look forward to a jury trial." pic.twitter.com/AHkDKv3yZF
— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) August 14, 2019
The strongly worded statement came in response to a letter released on Monday by the US Soccer president, Carlos Cordeiro, which said the federation has paid out $34.1m in salary and game bonuses to the women as opposed to $26.4m paid to the men. Those figures do not include benefits received only by the women, like healthcare.
As both the women’s and men’s team pointed out, the federation’s numbers are pulled from a complicated mix of statistics to bolster a certain argument—and the teams don’t believe they contradict the view that the women aren’t being paid fairly. “For every game a man plays on the MNT he makes a higher base salary payment than a woman on the WNT,” Molly Levinson, a spokeswoman for the women players, said. “For every comparable win or tie, his bonus is higher. That is the very definition of gender discrimination. For the USSF to believe otherwise, is disheartening but it only increases our determination to obtain true equal pay.”
The numbers aren’t easy to compare, either in terms of revenue or pay. When it comes to the finances of the two national teams, one has to factor in salaries, bonuses, tournaments, amount of play, ticket sales, opponents and locations, sponsorships, broadcast rights, investment, two professional leagues, the separate U.S. federation, and the sport’s international governing body.
First, the matter of pay. The compensation structures of the two teams (arranged through different collective bargaining agreements) mandate that the women are paid a $100,000 salary and bonuses for games, while men are paid only in bonuses. The total sum also includes smaller salaries for players in the National Women’s Soccer League. (U.S. Soccer pays no salaries for Major League Soccer players.) But, as supporters of the USWNT’s campaign have argued, the disparity has to do with the bonuses available to men for participating in and performing well in competitions. When those bonuses were factored in, they say, men walk away with more, even when they perform worse than the women.
US Soccer said it pays the women’s national team players a base salary of $100,000 per year, and an additional $67,500 to $72,500 per player as a salary for playing in the National Women’s Soccer League. The women also have healthcare benefits and a retirement plan.
Conversely, players on the men’s national team are paid by training camp call-ups, game appearances and through performance bonuses. The federation says the men have the ability to earn higher bonuses that the women. The collective bargaining agreements are not made public, and US Soccer did not provide details about the men’s bonus structure.
USSF also says the men’s team generates more revenue. The women’s team generated $101.3m over the course of 238 games between 2009 and 2019 while the men generated $185.7m over 191 games, according to the federation.
The analysis did not include prize money for tournaments like the World Cup, because those funds are determined by Fifa, soccer’s international governing body, and not US Soccer.
Read also.: Racing News
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