USA men and women reach equal pay deal

AN equal pay agreement has been reached for the United States men’s and women’s national teams.

A settlement was struck in February over the US women’s national team’s long legal battle with their federation for equal pay with male counterparts.

Yesterday it was announced that the United States Soccer Federation along with the men’s and women’s national team unions had signed collective bargaining agreements that achieve equal pay.

“The two CBAs, which run through 2028, achieve equal pay through identical economic terms,” the federation said in a statement. “These economic terms include identical compensation for all competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, and the introduction of the same commercial revenue sharing mechanism for both teams.”

The agreement makes the USSF the first federation to equalise prize money for participation in respective World Cups, plus improves aspects such as player health, safety and data privacy.

US Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone – a World Cup winner in 1999 – said: “This is a truly historic moment. These agreements have changed the game forever here in the United States and have the potential to change the game around the world.”

Becky Sauerbrunn, US women’s international and president of the United States Women’s National Team Players Association, said: “The accomplishments in this CBA are a testament to the incredible efforts of WNT players on and off the field.

“We hope that this agreement and its historic achievements in not only providing for equal pay but also in improving the training and playing environment for national team players will similarly serve as the foundation for continued growth of women’s soccer both in the United States and abroad.”

Walker Zimmerman, part of the United States National Soccer Team Players Association’s leadership group and a senior men’s international, echoed those sentiments.

“They said equal pay for men and women was not possible, but that did not stop us and we went ahead and achieved it,” the Nashville defender said.

“We hope this will awaken others to the need for this type of change, and will inspire FIFA and others around the world to move in the same direction.”