quote:

Five female players from the World Cup-winning U.S. national team have accused the U.S. Soccer Federation of wage discrimination in an action filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Former Portland Thorns star Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, ex-University of Portland standout Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo maintain in the EEOC filing they were paid nearly four times less than their male counterparts on the U.S. men's national team. The filing was announced Thursday in a statement from the law firm representing the players.

"The numbers speak for themselves," Solo said in a statement. "We are the best in the world, have three World Cup Championships, four Olympic Championships, and the USMNT get paid more just to show up than we get paid to win major championships."

The union representing the players is currently involved in a legal dispute with U.S. Soccer over the terms of their collective bargaining agreement. The federation filed a lawsuit this year seeking to clarify that its contract with the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team Players Association runs through the Rio Olympics until Dec. 31. The union maintains the memorandum of understanding agreed to in March 2013 can be terminated at any time.

Attorney Jeffrey Kessler, one of the attorneys representing the players, claimed that the tenor of the negotiations over the CBA created the need for the women to act in hopes of ending what they say is the "discriminatory and unfair treatment" they have endured for years.

"The reality is that this team is more valuable to the USSF than the men's team has been. That's what the facts show," Kessler said on a conference call with reporters. "And they would be justified in asking for more than the men are receiving. But the first step that they are seeking is equal treatment. That should be an easy step for the USSF to take."

U.S. Soccer issued a statement saying it had not seen this complaint and couldn't comment on specifics, but added it is "disappointed" with the action.

"We have been a world leader in women's soccer and are proud of the commitment we have made to building the women's game in the United States over the past 30 years," the statement said.

The top players on the women's team are paid about $72,000 a year by U.S. Soccer, along with bonuses, to play in a minimum of 20 exhibitions per year — a salary far less than the men, the complaint says. And unlike the men, they are awarded bonuses only if they win those matches, the complaint says.

Citing another example of the disparity, the complaint says that the women are paid $30,000 each for making the World Cup team, while the men are paid $68,750.

"There are no legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for this gross disparity of wages, nor can it be explained away by any bona fide seniority, merit or incentive system or any other factor other that sex," said the complaint, signed by four of the players on Tuesday.

The EEOC investigates claims of discrimination on merit. There is no timetable for resolution of the matter.

Many players on the national team have become increasingly vocal about gender equity in the sport, something that came to light in advance of last year's World Cup in Canada. A group of players led by Abby Wambach filed a complaint in Canada about the artificial turf playing surface, noting the men's World Cup is played on natural grass.

After the women won the World Cup with a 5-2 victory over Japan in the final, the turf issue arose again during a victory tour when a game in Hawaii was canceled because the artificial turf was deemed unsafe.

"This is a fight that we are going to have to continue to fight from here on forward," Solo said. I don't see it getting any easier, but it is something we are committed to. And it's not just in the sports world, it's everywhere you look."

Morgan said it wasn't only one factor that brought the players to file the complaint.

"It's the right step for us in moving forward with this team," she said.

The team, which has qualified for this summer's Olympics in Brazil, is currently in Florida training for a pair of exhibition games against Colombia.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland-thorns/2016/03/uswnt_players_accuse_us_soccer.html

Gigi Galli posted:

This is interesting because I didn't know national teams paid the players at all. You should play for your country for free and let FIFA hand out prizes for doing well if they desperately need money.

The women's game is fundamentally different than the mens game in terms of national teams, at least in the US it seems. Really they should just bring down the mens salaries if they want everything to be equal.

peanut- posted:

For most countries this would be ridiculous, but I could believe the US womens team actually does generate as much cash as then mens

peanut- posted:

For most countries this would be ridiculous, but I could believe the US womens team actually does generate as much cash as then mens

Ciprian Maricon posted:

They should get the same pay as the men.

It should be zero dollars. Play for your national team or don't. I'd play for Mexico for free, and I might be better than Rafa Marquez at this point.

African AIDS cum posted:

So corrupt federation heads should just get all the ad money and ticket revenue while the players play for free?

African AIDS cum posted:

So corrupt federation heads should just get all the ad money and ticket revenue while the players play for free?

Gigi Galli posted:

I hadn't thought of this, ideally the clubs should get paid for getting their players taken away, and they can do what they want with the money, such as pay the player a bonus or spend it on hookers and cocaine for the president.

Gigi Galli posted:

I hadn't thought of this, ideally the clubs should get paid for getting their players taken away, and they can do what they want with the money, such as pay the player a bonus or spend it on hookers and cocaine for the president.

African AIDS cum posted:

"Reached for comment in Seattle, American goalkeeper Hope Solo said she is "torn up" over the news, adding that there has been a "gaping chasm" in negotiations between the two groups and she expects the defendants to be "blown out" in court."

Shrapnig posted:

The women routinely lose to U-16 boys teams, by 5 goals.

Not the U-16 National Team, regional teams.

blue footed boobie posted:

Any links for this? The only one I remember is when the USWNT played the U17 or something and got destroyed. I don't think I've heard of any others and I've love to do some lulz.

jyrka posted:

That is what happens - in UEFA when a player get called up for a qualifying match, their club gets something like 5k. Sometimes it's in the player's contract that he'll get all of it, sometimes the club will get it all. And usually there is some sort of an agreement between the FA and the players to share prize money.

I'm not sure if I remember it correctly but I kind of remember the Estonian FA president bragging about how Estonia is the only team in Europe where the players don't get paid by the federation.

Shrapnig posted:

BigSoccer thread, you've been warned.

http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/uswnt-vs-so-cal-boys-odp.929075/

quote:

Does anyone else find it creepy that 30 year old women are playing against 14 year old boys (under 15) ???

Some of those young teenage boys are fantasizing about those women in their dreams before and after playing against them.

I just don't think this is right.

trem_two posted:

One of my favorite quotes from Big Soccer came from a thread about the USWNT playing against the U17 mens team.

trem_two posted:

One of my favorite quotes from Big Soccer came from a thread about the USWNT playing against the U17 mens team.

Paddyb posted:

I'd like to see them play the 45 year old Guatemalan shitkickers down at my local park.

XyrlocShammypants posted:

An entire team of 14 year old boys with boners playing against the women's national team and winning 11-0

Paddyb posted:

Crunkjuice posted:

The womens team took a projected net loss in 2015 for all of US soccer to a 17 million dollar profit because of winning the world cup. They are also projected to net 5 million dollars in 2016 while the mens team is projected to lose 1 million dollars.

I don't see why they shouldn't be paid more in the slightest. Don't their husbands deserve to eat better?

Byolante posted:

Depends on whether you can make a nicer type of soup to eat through that broken jaw

Crunkjuice posted:

The womens team took a projected net loss in 2015 for all of US soccer to a 17 million dollar profit because of winning the world cup. They are also projected to net 5 million dollars in 2016 while the mens team is projected to lose 1 million dollars.

I don't see why they shouldn't be paid more in the slightest. Don't their husbands deserve to eat better?

African AIDS cum posted:

And what do they generate outside of world cup winning years?

Crunkjuice posted:

More respect for USA soccer than the men's team, thats for drat sure. They at least know how to win a world cup.

quote:

For the U.S. national team's stunning 5-2 win over Japan at the Women's World Cup on Sunday, a rout that made the Americans the first team ever to win three world championships, soccer's global governing body will award the team $2 million — about 5 percent of the $35 million FIFA gave to the German victors of last year's World Cup.

And while viewers made the Sunday match by far the most-watched soccer game in American TV history, little of that excitement could be seen in the tourney's marketing deals. Fox grabbed an estimated $17 million in ads from corporate sponsors of the elite women's matches — a tiny fraction compared to the $529 million ESPN pocketed in sponsorship revenue from last year's tournament in Brazil.